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THE 

ESSENTIAL FACTS 

OF 

AMERICAN HISTORY 

REVISED EDITION 



BY 

LAWTON B. EVANS 



BENJ. H. SANBORN & CO. 

CHICAGO NEW YORK BOSTON 

1920 



/ 



,1 



Copyright, 1909, 1914, 1917, 

BY 

LAWTON B. EVANS. 
Copyright, 1920, 

BY 

BENJ. H. SANBORN & CO. 



J. S. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



APR 28 1920 
,A565778 



INTRODUCTION 

This book is the result of the author's desire to make the 
history of our country interesting to children, and, therefore, 
easily learned and long remembered. The child has been 
kept in mind constantly, in the selection of words in the sen- 
tences, in the length of the sentences themselves, and in the 
treatment of the narrative. By the child's ability to under- 
stand and to enjoy the history of his country as told in these 
pages, will the usefulness of this book be measured. 

The text records the history of America in its great epochs 
only. The author has used the topical treatment of the 
subject, following the advice of the Committee of Eight on 
the Study of History, that *^only typical events should re- 
ceive emphasis, and those should be so grasped and so pre- 
sented as to make definite impressions." 

Many facts and figures have been omitted as unnecessary 
to the story of our national establishment. Those incidents 
that were not influential in the development of our country 
should be reserved for a larger text and a more mature in- 
quiry. Herein the child need not be bewildered by details 
that cumber the story and confuse the mind. 

The treatment of the narrative is dramatic and picturesque. 
At this stage of his mental development the child responds 
to the thrilling story of the explorers, founders, pioneers, and 
adventurers that carved their fortunes out of the wilderness. 
He gains inspiration from the lives of those great leaders that 
established, fought for, and maintained the government. 



iv Introduction 

The philosophical and institutional aspect of history will be 
better appreciated in the later years of school life. 

The chapters cover epochs and the lessons are topics or 
events within the epoch. Thus each lesson is a unit in itself 
and should be so considered in teaching the text. The author 
has avoided a meaningless gathering of facts in mere sequence 
of time, but has grouped facts in each topic according to their 
relation and interest. In this way the child gets a definite 
impression of one event at a time, as the story moves on in 
the cumulative narrative of our country's growth. 

The facts of the Civil War are taught without passion or 
prejudice. Our country is too great and our traditions are 
too noble for the youth of these days to be reared with any 
motive except that of making them citizens of the entire 
country, proud of the deeds of their fathers, and forgetful of 
past differences. 

Especially is this true in view of the splendid part borne 
by the United States in the great struggle in Europe now so 
happily ended by the overthrow and confusion of the enemies 
of the Allied powers. Of late years we have grown to a large 
appreciation of the greatness of our country, its vigor and 
life, its splendid force, and the influential part it will here- 
after have in the affairs of the world. 

In the hope that those who study these pages may find in 
them an abiding respect for the great men of the past and a 
deep inspiration for their own conduct in the future, the 
author submits the text to the indulgent consideration of 
that profession of which he has been a member for many 
years. 

L. B. E. 

Augusta, Georgia 
May, 1920 



LIST OF BOOKS 

The teacher will find the following inexpensive books suitable for 
supplementary reading and for expanding the condensed story of the 
text. 
Explorers and Founders of America. (Foote and Skinner.) American 

Book Co. The story of the Norsemen ; Columbus ; the Spanish 

and French explorers ; the English and Dutch settlers ; Bacon ; 

Braddock; Wolfe. 
American Indians. (Frederick Starr.) D. C. Heath & Co. General 

facts about the life, customs, manners, and traditions of the Indians ; 

their division into tribes and the peculiarity of each. 
The Making of Virginia and the Middle Colonies. (Drake.) Charles 

Scribner's Sons. The story of the English in Virginia ; the English 

in Maryland; the Great Iroquois League; the Dutch on Man- 
hattan ; the settlement of Delaware. 
The Making of New England. (Drake.) Charles Scribner's Sons. 

The story of the exploring and settling of New England; the 

Pilgrims ; the Puritans ; colonies of Maine, New Hampshire, 

Connecticut, Rhode Island. 
The Making of the Great West. (Drake.) Charles Scribner's Sons. 

The story of Joliet and Marquette ; La Salle ; Louisiana Purchase ; 

Lewis and Clark; the Oregon Trail; gold in California; later 

history of the West. 
The Conquest of the Old Northwest. (Baldwin.) American Book Co. 

The country around the Great Lakes; George Washington and 

Braddock; George Rogers Clark; subduing the wilderness. 
Makers of American History. (Chandler and Chitwood.) Silver, 

Burdett & Co. A series of thirty-six interesting biographies 

covering the entire period of American history. 
Colonial Children. (Hart.) The Macmillan Company. A story of 

the home life of the people in colonial times. 



vi I^ist of Books 

Home Life in Colonial Days. (Earle.) The Macmillan Company. The 
homes of the colonists ; food and drink ; occupations and sports ; 
travel ; Sunday observance ; colonial customs ; etc. 

America First. (Evans.) Milton Bradley Co. A collection of one 
hundred best stories from American history, covering the entire 
period from the Norsemen to the World War. 

Camps and Firesides of the Revolution. (Hart.) The Macmillan 
Company. Home life ; highways and byways ; the Indians ; 
French and Indian wars ; preparing for the Revolution ; Rev- 
olutionary firesides ; in camp ; in the field. 

Hero Tales from American History. (Roosevelt and Lodge.) The 
Century Company. Washington ; Boone ; Monroe ; Adams ; 
Parkman ; Stonewall Jackson ; Sheridan ; Lincoln ; etc. 

Children's Stories of American Progress. (Wright.) Charles Scribner's 
Sons. The Barbary Pirates ; Louisiana Purchase ; Lewis and 
Clark ; the steamboat ; the railroad ; the telegraph ; the Mexican 
War. 

Romance of the Civil War. (Hart.) The Macmillan Company. 
Plantation life ; the condition of the slaves ; in and out of the 
army; boy soldiers and sailors; in camp and on the march; on 
deck; women and the war. 

A School History of the Great War. (McKinley, Coulomb, Gerson.) 
American Book Co. A brief history of i8o pages covering the 
main facts in the World War. 

Our Country in Poem and Prose. (Persons.) American Book Co. 
A collection of short poems and incidents covering the entire 
period of American history. 

The Liberty Reader. (Sheridan.) Benj. H. Sanborn & Co. A collec- 
tion of contemporary prose and verse of the World War, arranged 
especially for children. 

The more extensive writings of Fiske, Parkman, Schouler, McMaster, 
Bancroft, and Ridpath are recommended to those who desire an exhaus- 
tive study of the history of our country. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

THE OLD WORLD 

PAGE 

The Middle Ages 1 

Life of the Nobles '. . . 6 

Life of the People 11 

Influence of the Church .15 

Trading with the East . . 20 

CHAPTER II 

DISCOVERING AND EXPLORING THE NEW WORLD 

The Story of Columbus 28 

The Voyages of Columbus . . . 31 

Finding and Naming the Continent 36 

Discovering the Pacific Ocean . . . . . . . . .39 

The Indians . . 41 

CHAPTER III 

EARLY COLONIES IN THE NEW WORLD 



The Spaniards Settle Florida 
The French Settle Canada 
The English Settle Virginia 
The Progress of Jamestown 
Affairs in Virginia 
The Pilgrims in New England 
The Puritans in New England 



50 
53 
58 
63 
68 
71 
78 



CHAPTER IV 

LATER COLONIES IN THE NEW WORLD 



The Dutch Settle New York 
The Founding of Maryland 



85 
92 



Vll 



viii Table of Contents 



PAGE 



The Settlement of New Jersey and Delaware 95 

The Settlement of Pennsylvania 98 

The Settlement of the Carolinas . . • 101 

The Settlement of Georgia 106 



CHAPTER V 

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ENGLISH 

Progress of Virginia 112 

Indian Wars in New England 116 

The Tyranny of Andros . . . . " 125 

The French Explore the Mississippi 127 

The French in America 132 

The French and Indian War . 138 

The Fall of Quebec 144 

CHAPTER VI 

LIFE IN THE COLONIES 

Colonial Government 149 

The Homes of the Colonists 153 

Occupations, Dress, Sports > . . . 157 

Laws, Travel, Customs 160 

Schools and Churches in the Colonies ....... 165 

Servants and Slaves in the Colonies 170 



CHAPTER VII 

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

George III and the American Colonies , . 176 

First Acts of Resistance 180 

The First Battle of the Revolution . . . . • . . . .187 

The Progress of the War ' . . . .192 

Trials and Triumphs of the Patriots 199 

The Surrender of Burgoyne . 204 

The War in the South 211 

The Surrender of Cornwallis 217 

How the Northwest Territory Was Saved for the Union . . . 221 



Table of Contents ix 

CHAPTER VIII 

ESTABLISHING THE NATION 

PAGE 

The Critical Period , . . . .229 

The Constitution of the United States 234 

Problems before the New Government 238 

Trouble with France 244 

The Influence of Thomas Jefferson . 248 

The Purchase of Louisiana 253 

The Right of the Seas . . . . . . . . . .257 

The War of 1812 Begun • . .260 

The War of 1812 Concluded 266 

The Era of Good Feehng 271 

The Missouri Compromise 274 

The Monroe Doctrine 279 

CHAPTER IX 

THE PROGRESS OF THE NATION 

Growth of the Country 286 

Industrial Development . . . . 291 

Improvement in Transportation 298 

The Movement Westward . . 305 

CHAPTER X 

SECTIONAL INTERESTS AND DISCORDS 

Andrew Jackson Becomes President 314 

Disputes over the Tariff 319 

The Annexation of Texas 326 

The Oregon Territory. War with Mexico 329 

The Nation in 1850 . . . . . ■ . . . . . . 334 

Improvements and Inventions . . ., 338 

Opening the New Territory 344 

The Question of Slavery 348 

The War Clouds Gather 353 

CHAPTER XI 

THE CIVIL WAR 

The Southern States Secede 362 

The Beginning of the War 367 



X Table of Contents 

PAGS 

The War in the West .......... 372 

Events on the Sea 377 

The Peninsular Campaign .... ^ ... . 382 

Progress of the War 386 

Crises in the War 390 

Through the Heart of the South 395 

The End of the War 398 

Hardships and Heroism .......... 405 



CHAPTER XII 

RECONSTRUCTION AND EXPANSION 

Plans for Reconstruction 412 

Conditions in the South after the War 417 

The Reconstructed Nation 420 

Reforms and Improvements 424 

The War with Spain 431 

Recent PoHtical Events 439 



CHAPTER XIII 

ENTERPRISES, INVENTIONS, AND INDUSTRIES 

Great American Enterprises . . 449 

Great American Inventions and Industries 457 

Growth of the West 465 

Growth of the South 472 

American Literature and Art ' . . 477 

CHAPTER XIV 

THE WORLD V^AR 

Europe before the World War 485 

How the World War Began 490 

The Progress of the War 494 

Two Years of Conflict 500 

The United States Enters the War . . .506 

Preparing for Victory . . 512 

The German Campaign of 1918 . . 519 

The End of the War . .526 



Table of Contents xi 

APPENDIX 

PAGE 

Review Questions = = . ' . . 533 

Important Dates 537 

Presidents and Vice-Presidents 539 

List of States 540 

Declaration of Independence . . . 541 

Constitution of the United States ........ 545 

Pronunciation Index 563 

INDEX . . .565 



The Essential Facts of American 

History 



Chapter I 
THE OLD WORLD 

1. THE MIDDLE AGES 

Before we study the history of the New World it will be 
well for us to know something of the Old World from which 
came the discoverers, the explorers, and the founders of our 
own great country. 

About two thousand years ago the great Roman Empire 
extended over the southern part of Europe as far as the Rhine 
and Danube rivers. Beyond those rivers and indeed in many 
parts of the Empire itself lived a barbarian people who had 
none of the arts of civiHzation, and who spent their time in 
hunting and fishing, or in warfare. These people, who were 
called Teutons, were divided like our Indians into tribes, 
such as the Angles, the Franks, the Saxons, and the Goths. 

All of these barbarous tribes were far removed from the civili- 
zation and culture of the Greeks and the Romans. They were 
primitive in their habits with scant ideas of law and 
order. They loved warfare and adventure more tht^Teutonf 
than they loved anything else. They lived in 
cabins, made in a rough way, or else in caves in the sides 
of the hills. For clothing they depended largely on the skins 
of animals. They gained a livelihood by hunting for game, 



2 American History 

and by tilling the soil, and by caring for herds and flocks, 
that gave them meat, milk, and a poor kind of cheese. Most 
of the heavy labor was left to the women. 

For the most part the tribes wandered through the vast 
forests, or over the mountains — a dangerous, savage people, 
blue-eyed, tall and fair, deadly in battle, and cruel to their 
victims. And yet from this ancient stock, combined through 




Extent of the Roman Empire in the West 



the centuries with the Roman people, have come all the 
nations of Western Europe from which sprang our own 
ancestors. 

As might have been expected, these warlike and savage tribes 
began to cross the Danube and Rhine rivers in vast hordes 
and to mingle with the Romans. The Roman people, weak- 
ened by indolence, wealth, and indulgence, were no longer a 
conquering nation. Their armies were not the equals of the 
fierce warriors of the north. The tribe of Goths, hving 



The Old World 



3 



along the Danube, defeated the Roman armies, seized a large 
territory, and settled comfortably on Roman soil. 

Later on a Goth leader named Alaric called his fierce 
soldiers together, ravaged the Roman territory, marched 
upon Rome and sacked that imperial city. He took all the 
gold, silver, precious goods, and slaves, and insolently told 
the dismayed people, ''I. shall leave you your lives, but little 
else." Thus was proud Rome humbled by the Goths, at the 
beginning of the fifth century. 

What the Goths had done, other tribes attempted to do. 
Rome became an easy prey to the vandals of the north. 
For many years the great Empire was harassed and ^j^^ do^n, 
overrun by hungry, merciless hordes of cruel bar- fall of Rome, 
barians, who pillaged, destroyed, and slew to their '^'^ 
hearts' content. At the end came the downfall of the Roman 




The Kind of Houses. the Ancient Teutons Lived In 

Empire in the West, and all the vast territory of Europe was 
in possession of the Teutonic tribes. 

Then followed a thousand years, beginning in the fifth and 
ending in the fifteenth century, during which the nations of 
Europe were slowly forming out of the mixture of the old 



American History 



Roman people and the hardy blood of the conquerors. These 
centuries are known as the Middle Ages. They connect the 
The Middle ancient civiHzation of Rome with the civilization 
Ages Qf modern times. During these ages civilization 

was almost at a standstill. The arts, sciences, and industries 
were neglected, education was almost unknown, ignorance, 
superstition, and warfare held sway. It was a long night in 
the history of Europe. 

The tribe of Franks had crossed the Rhine about the time 
the Goths had crossed the Danube. They set up a rude 
government, and gradually occupied all the territory that 
is now France, Belgium, and Holland. They grew in strength 
and numbers and finally absorbed what Roman people were 

in the land, taking on some of 
the Roman civilization and finally 
adopting the Christian rdigion. 

The greatest king of the Franks 
was Charlemagne or Charles the 
Great. He was not 
only a great soldier, 
but also a wise ruler. He put 
down rebellions, defended his 
kingdom against all enemies, and 
improved his system of govern- 
ment. He fought many wars 
during his reign, extending his 
empire until it covered half of 
Europe. He was a friend of learn- 
ing and education. In those 
days there were almost no books 
and no schools. Charlemagne himself learned to read a little 
after he was grown, but never could learn to write. He 




Charlemagne 



Charlemagne 



The Old World 



encouraged the priests to found schools and teach the people, 
but, generally, learning was looked upon with contempt at a 
time when war was the main thought of the people. 

The only one of those rude tribes that ever touched our 
own immediate history was the Norsemen, who lived in the 
northern part of Europe, in what is now Norway, The 
Sweden, and Denmark. They were very daring Norsemen 
and skillful sailors. Their ships were long, carrying oars 
and sails and having carved images in the bow. They sailed 
to Iceland, and 
afterwards as 
far as Green- 
land. On the 
southwestern 
coast of Green- 
land, near Cape 
Farewell, these 
bold seamen 
founded a col- 
o ny which 
lasted five hun- 
dred years, and some ruins of which may be seen at the present 
day. 

Soon after the Greenland colony was founded, one of the 
Norse leaders, named Leif Ericson, sailed westward with one 
ship and thirty-five men to see what he could find. Some 
sailors who had been blown off their course had told him 
there was land in that direction. 

After many days' saihng he came to land somewhere in a 
strange country, which he called Vinland, or Vine 
land, on account of the delicious grapes which 
grew there in abundance. We do not know where Vinland 




The NuKslmln L- 



LVBRADOR A.BOLT THE YeAR IOOO 



Vinland 



6 American History 

was or what shores the brave Norsemen saw, but we suppose 
they landed somewhere in Labrador, and then continued 
their voyage down the coast. This was about the year looo. 

When they went back to the colony in Greenland they told 
strange stories of the fruits and timber they had found, and 
the wild people they had seen on those distant shores. The 
stories were written out afterwards, and are kept to this day. 
It is from them that we know of these early visitors to our 
country. 

For a number of years ships went back and forth from 
Greenland to the new country. The sailors carried home 
fruit and timber, and told many stories of the wild natives 
they had seen. 

All attempts of the Norsemen to found a colony in these 
strange lands failed. The natives were not friendly. They 
slew some bf the settlers, and made so much trouble that the 
Norsemen gave up the effort to establish a colony. Their 
ships ceased to go back and forth, all records of their houses 
were destroyed, and the wild men of the West were left 
undisturbed by the wanderers from across the sea. 

After all, we know very little of what the Norsemen did 
or what they saw in America. They may have come as 
far south as Rhode Island, or Connecticut, but they left no 
houses or monuments to mark their path. Their story is told 
in their old writings called the ''Norse Sagas," from which we 
learn what kind of men they were, and something of the 
shores they visited. 

2. LIFE OF THE NOBLES 

The people generally, during the Middle Ages, were divided 
into three classes. There were the nobles, who owned the 



The Old World 



The nobles 



land, and were the ruling class ; the peasants, who tilled the 
soil, kept the stores, and did all the work; and the clergy, 
who looked after the affairs of the church. 

The class of nobles was founded on the theory that the king 
or ruler who had conquered a country owned all the land 
and the people in it, and had the right to divide 
them out among his relatives, favorites, and 
friends. Vast estates were granted to dukes, lords, barons, 
and the like, who established themselves upon their lands, 
built great castles to live in, surrounded themselves with 
servants and soldiers, and made all the people on their lands 
work for them. The system is called the Feudal System. 

The chief business of these lords was war, because they 
had to keep the lands they had, or else they wanted the lands 
that belonged to 
some other lord 
or baron. They 
were also bound 
to answer the call 
of the king for 
soldiers and to 
follow him in his 
wars. This was 
one of the condi- 
tions of their being made lord or baron. Even the amuse- 
ments of the nobility were playing at warlike games, such as 
tournament, or tilting on horseback with spear and lance, 
and fencing with swords. They had no profitable employ- 
ment and considered work of any kind beneath their rank 
and notice. 

The houses of these nobles were called castles. Since wars 
often occurred among the nobles themselves and the whole 




The Ancient Castles Were the Homes of the Lords, 
AS Well as Forts for the Protection of the People 



8 American History- 

country was open to foreign invasions, these castles were built 
of great strength. They were very Hke forts, inside of which 
the lord and his followers hved, and to which all 
of his people could flee for protection against 
their enemies. Travelers in Europe today can find in many 
places ivy-covered ruins of great stone castles, with massive 



Ivy-Covered Ruins op a Feudal Castle 

walls and tall towers, in which once lived proud and fierce 
barons. 

In time of war it was the lord's duty to gather his knights 
and soldiers together and lead them to the fields of battle. 
They put on armor and helmets, carried heavy swords and 
battle axes, and rode powerful horses. Gunpowder had 
not yet been invented, and all combats were hand-to-hand, 
so that a battle in those days was won by strength of arm 
and individual courage. Even the kings themselves went 



The Old World 



armed into battle, and some of them 
were very powerful warriors. 

In case a lord's castle was attacked or 
besieged, it was provided with many 
means of defense. It was often sur- 
rounded by a deep ditch, or moat, filled 
with water and with a drawbridge for 
entering or leaving the castle, or else it 
was built on a steep hillside, up which 
no enemy could cKmb. The walls were 
built of stone, tall and thick, with towers 
and parapets on top, from which the 
soldiers could repel an attack. From 
these parapets they hurled stones, or 
discharged arrows and spears, upon their 
enemies. 

Inside the walls the peasants from 
the farms and villages crowded for pro- 
tection, leaving their homes and crops 
to be destroyed by the invaders. Grain 
and supplies were stored to withstand 
a siege. These castles were the scenes 
of many bloody battles, as the lords 
sought to settle by warfare their petty 
quarrels among themselves. 

In times of peace the great castle was 
not an attractive place to live in. The 
Life in the rooms were gloomy and 
castles damp and cold, for there 

was no window glass, the only light 
coming through narrow open slits in 
the walls. The sleeping rooms of the 



A Knight 
IN Akmor 




li:..-- 



lO 



American History 




The Entrance to a Castle Was Protected by Gates 
AND BY A Drawbridge over a Ditch, or Moat 



attendants were small and poorly furnished. They were never 
warmed and but dimly hghted by ill-smelKng candles. The 
great hall where the lord and his family slept, ate, and held 

their court was 
gloomy and cold 
at times with 
its dark walls 
and ceihngs. It 
was cheerful 
only when the 
big fire of wood 
was blazing in 
the fireplace, 
the tables spread 
with the rich 
feasts, and the 
company singing and laughing at some festival or celebration. 
This great hall was the center of the hfe of the castle. It 
was here that the banquets were held, here came the vassals 
to do homage to the lord, here the wandering minstrels and 
players came to amuse the household, and here all visitors were 
received. There were no books to read, no letters, no news- 
papers, and no work, so that all the life of the castle centered 
about preparation for war, amusement at tournaments, or 
hunting wild animals in the lord's forests. 

The attendants occupied themselves in caring for the 
horses, cleaning the equipment and arms of the lords and 
knights, cutting wood in the forest, and cooking food for the 
household. There were guards for the walls and gates, and 
porters for each entrance. All together a castle was a big, 
frowning, gloomy fort built for defense, in which lived the 
lord of the manor, and around which toiled the peasants who 



The Old World 1 1 

cultivated the soil and supplied the needs of the masters 
of the land. 

3. LIFE OF THE PEOPLE 

Very different from the life of the lords and barons was the 
Hfe of the peasants, who dwelt around the great castle and 
worked upon the farms. The lord of the castle owned all 
the land for miles around, holding it under the king's grant 
as his vassal. This land was divided into small farms, on 
which the peasants lived and for the use of which they 
made certain payments to the lord and performed certain 
duties. 

These peasants were called "serfs" or ''villains." They 
went with the land, and so long as they performed their 
services and made their payments, the lord could 

, , . , , 1 . , . 'The peasants 

not take away their lands, nor deprive their , 
children of the right to use them. These payments consisted 
of fixed sums of money, or part of the crops, or part of the 
pigs, lambs, and poultry. In addition to this, the serfs had 
to plow the lord's domain, plant and gather his grain, thresh 
it, and store it in the lord's barns. They had to build addi- 
tions to the castle, repair the damages done by war, work on 
the roads, and pay tithes to the church. In the end there 
was not much left for the peasants themselves. 

The peasants generally lived in little villages, huddled up 
close to the great castle to which they could fly for protection 
when attacked. Their houses were little else than 

11 1-1 1 rr^i Their houses 

wooden huts, covered with straw or rushes. The 
floor was of dirt, and the furniture of the rudest sort. In 
a shed-room were kept the cattle and the tools for working 
the lands. There were no windows and no chimneys. The 
cooking and heating were done on the floor, and the smoke 



12 American History 

left to get out of the cracks in the walls or the open door, 
the best way it could. 

The food of the peasant was of the coarsest sort, consisting 
largely of grain, coarse beans and dried meat, and occasionally 
but not often, a pig or a chicken. The best was 
kept for the castle and for the priests. Sometimes 
a bad season would bring a failure of the crops and then the 
lot of the peasant was hard indeed. Between sickness and 
famine he was lucky to live until the next harvest. Being 
bound to the land he could not leave, and was compelled 
to endure whatever hardships his lot called for. 

His clothing was coarse, often one garment only, tied 
around the waist with a rope. He could not marry, nor 
give his daughter in marriage, without his lord's consent. 
There were practically no schools for his children, and no 
books for them to study. There were robbers in the near-by 
forests that kept him in great terror, and as for the outside 
world, he knew absolutely nothing of it. His vision never 
went beyond the castle and the farm. His hfe held only 
toil and privation. 

Thus life with the lords in the castle and the peasant^ in 
the field went on for hundreds of years in the Middle Ages. 
It took a long time for the people to arouse themselves from 
these conditions. At last there came about in the tenth and 
eleventh centuries a gradual change in the life and thoughts 
of the people. The villages about the castle grew larger and 
became towns, the houses were better, churches were built, 
commerce and even manufacturing began to revive. 

Then the people began to travel from place to 
place, and to exchange ideas. They began to 
question the right of the nobles to hold them in this half- 
slavery. The towns grew into cities and the people desired 



The Old World 



13 




An Ancient Walled City, Showing the Growth 
OF the Village around the Castle 



no longer to be peasants and bound to the lords and to the 

land. Ideas of freedom and independence arose, and the 

lordly barons began 

to lose their power 

and influence. The 

people now began to 

throw off the yoke of 

the lords and barons, 

and to assert their 

own rights. 

Sometimes the 

people demanded a 
charter of 
the lord, with rights to make their own laws, own 

their own lands, and regulate their own affairs. If the lord 

refused they would attack his castle and compel him to yield. 

Sometimes the people would 
buy the freedom of their town 
for a large sum of money, and 
thus become a ''free city," 
over which the lord had no 
control whatever. All the 
time the people were becom- 
ing more civilized, learning 
trades, becoming better arti- 
sans, sending their children 
to school, and building larger 
and more beautiful houses 
to live in. They were think- 
ing less about the lords and 
more about themselves. 
The free towns, however, 



--^4fe^ 




The Guarded Entrance to a Walled 
Town 



H 



American History 



had to provide means of defense. In many cases they were 
surrounded by a high and massive wall, with towers and battle- 
ments from which an enemy could be repelled. In some cases 
the towns were surrounded by a ditch filled with water. Im- 
mense iron gates opened to the outside fields in the daytime, 
but were carefully closed and guarded at night. Those were 




Venice 

the walled towns of Medieval Europe about which have been 
written many a story of love and adventure. 

Inside, the streets were very narrow and crooked, badly 
paved and never Hghted at night except by such torches or 
Inside the . lanterns as the travelers carried. The houses 
walled towns were often two or three stories high, with balconies 
over the streets. In them was no water supply, lighting sys- 
tem, or sewerage. The artisans worked by hand in wood 
and metal and cloth, for there were no machines in those 



The Old World 15 

days. The merchants displayed their wares in the windows 
or on the streets. Occasionally a pack horse or a clumsy 
cart drawn by some peasant would lumber along, a rich 
merchant would pass in his carriage, or some ruler or prince 
would go by with his attendants on the way to his palace. 
Otherwise the city was filled with poor people who for the 
most part had to work hard to keep alive. 

In this way grew up the cities of Venice, Pisa, Genoa, 
Florence, and others, which became the centers of wealth, 
industry, and art. In France and Germany, The growth 
there were towns filled with people of industry ®^ *^^*^®^ 
and skill, seeking to establish a better condition for them- 
selves by improvements in the arts and sciences, by building 
great churches, by founding schools, and by holding fairs for 
the exchange of goods. The rise and growth of those cities 
developed the spirit of freedom among the people, and had 
much to do with the revival of the arts of civilization. 

4. INFLUENCE OF THE CHURCH 

During all the long centuries when progress was at a stand- 
still, and civilization seemed asleep in the darkness of the 
Middle Ages, the Christian Church alone remained alive and 
active. Its priests and missionaries went into the regions of 
the most barbarous tribes and converted their leaders to the 
simple faith of Christ. Cruel warriors and fierce kings 
embraced the Christian religion, and were baptized with their 
followers. 

Influenced by the saintly lives and sacrifices of the priests, 
and yielding to their teaching, the pagan nations of Europe 
one by one gave up their ancient religions. Thus when 
Europe emerged from the darkness of the Middle Ages, it 
came out a Christian country. 



i6 



American History 



Every village had its little church and its priest; every 
castle had its chapel where the lords and knights paid their 
jjjg devotions. At last when the villages grew into 

cathedrals towns, and the towns grew into cities, and the 
of Europe cities became free and the people threw off the yoke 
of the lords, it was the pride of each to build a great church 




Caistterbury Cathedral 

or cathedral to the glory of God, representing the faith and 
the sacrifice of the people. 

These great cathedrals may yet be found in Europe. Some 
of them are marvels of architectural beauty and splendor. 
It took millions of dollars, and the genius of the greatest 
builders to, erect them. To their decoration sculptors 
and painters contributed their genius, often without reward. 



The Old World 



17 



These vast and noble cathedrals became the rallying place 
of the life and thought of the people in their new-found free- 
dom, taking the place of the castles of the lords which had 
represented so much oppression and misery. The church of 
the bishop took the place of the castle of the baron, as the 
center of community life. 

The church at that time was of one organization. The 
head of the church was the Pope. He was the bishop of 
Rome, and had charge of the affairs of the church everywhere. 
Under his direction were bishops and archbishops in charge 
of certain districts. Then came priests, monks, and mis- 
sionaries, whose duty it was with the bishop to preach to the 
people, convert the heathen, marry the living, bury the dead, 
and console the distressed everywhere. 

That part of the clergy who withdrew from the world and 
lived apart were the monks. They were priestly men who 
gave up their lives to carinsr for the sick and the 

1 . n , M T . 11 , The monks 

poor, teaching the children, copying books and 
manuscripts, and performing other holy services. They 
wore coarse woolen cloth, with a hood to 
cover the head, and a girdle about the 
waist. They took vows of poverty for 
themselves, and gave up, not only their 
lives, but everything they had and made, 
to the church. 

The monks lived in monasteries, which 
were like great gloomy barracks, containing 
chapels, halls, sleeping cells, work rooms, 
and eating rooms. Some monasteries were 
surrounded by walls in the same way as 
the old castles to protect them from robbers. Outside the 
monasteries were the fields where the monks raised tjie grain 




i8 



American History 



they needed; and tended their flocks. Gradually these mon- 
asteries grew larger and stronger and accumulated more lands. 
Kings and nobles would grant lands and make gifts to them, 
and in return the monks would pray for them. 

Though the monks and priests themselves had no wealth, 
the church through them became wealthy and powerful in 
The power many places. By gifts and grants and careful 
and influence management, the church came to own large areas 
e c ergy ^£ j^^^ ^^^ many valuable concessions. The 
bishops and archbishops grew into a wealthy and powerful 
class wielding great influence over the destiny of the nations 
of Europe. The spiritual power of the Pope and the bishops 
extended over every Christian nation, and in many matters 

of war, royal 
marriages, and 
kingly succes- 
sion, the consent 
of the church 
was necessary 
to make them 
binding. 

Since there 
were no printing 
presses in the 
Middle Ages, it 
became the offlce 
of the monks, 
shut up in 
monasteries, to copy all the old manuscripts and the old 
books, in order that they might not be lost to the world. 
All the books of that time were made by hand, on large sheets 
of prepared skin called parchment. 




A Monk Copying an Old Manuscript 



The Old World 19 

The monk sat in the writing room of the monastery, a large 
board before him, on which was a sheet of parchment. Day 
after day he wrote or copied a manuscript or a Copying 
book, or a portion of the Bible, beautifully and manuscripts 
carefully, in blue, gold, and crimson ink. It required many 
months of patience and endurance, much skill and infinite 
pains to make one book. The sheets were bound together, 
a thick stout cover was put about them, and the completed 
book was stored among the treasures of the monastery. In 
this way, many wonderful and beautiful copies of the Bible 
have come down to us, as well as many valuable works of the 
ancients. 

The clergy were the only educated class, consequently they 
taught all the schools. In those days it was no disgrace to be 
ignorant and even kings and queens could not read or write. 
The priests encouraged the people to send their children to 
the monasteries to learn how to read and write. They 
founded outside schools, which grew after a while into great 
colleges and universities. While the church was growing 
into wealth and power and influence, it was also doing a vast 
deal of good in the world, by spreading the Christian religion, 
by educating the people, and by preserving the Bible and the 
literature of the ancient writers. 

The greatest movement toward the end of the Middle Ages 
was the Crusades. It was the purpose of this warfare to res- 
cue the Holy Sepulcher of Christ from the infidel The Crusades, 
Arabs and Turks, who had possession of Jerusalem 1 096-1 270 
and Palestine. There were a number of these Crusades, 
some of them foolish and all of them failures. The Crusaders 
set forth in large bands, led by knights on horseback, with 
crosses on their banners, and with a great deal of religious 
fervor, but poorly provided with food and implements of war. 



20 



American History 



Thousands died on the way and many turned back, but 
some armies did reach Jerusalem and stormed the walls of 
that ancient city. 

Jerusalem fell into the hands of the Crusaders (1099), 
was retaken eighty-eight years later (1187), and remained 




The Crusaders Marching to Rescue the Holy Sepulcher 

in the hands of the Turks. There were four large and 
several minor Crusades, covering a period of almost two hun- 
dred years. Th^y served largely to bring the European na- 
tions together in one common holy purpose, and to acquaint 
the people with countries beyond their own borders. 



5. TRADING WITH THE EAST 

The Crusades did not rescue the Holy Sepulcher from the 
hands of the infidels, but they did have a great influence over 
the people of Europe. The Crusaders and pilgrims to the 



The Old World 



21 



Holy Land learned a great deal about the countries through 
which they passed, their minds were broadened, and a desire 
to travel and see new cities and peoples was created. Besides 
this, many products and wares of the Eastern countries were 
introduced into Europe. 

These travelers learned the use of sugar, wheat, rice, oranges, 
lemons, and melons. They brought back silks, satins, velvets, 
mushns, for clothing, and beautiful rugs and xhe influence 
carpets for their houses. They returned with oftheCru- 
perfumes and spices, precious stones, and gold ^^ ®^ 
ornaments. In order to have all these products of the 




Teade Routes to the East 



East, a trade with the rich countries of India, Persia, and 
China sprang up, and trade routes to the East were soon 
opened by European merchants. 

Venice and Genoa rapidly grew into great, prosperous, and 
beautiful cities, for they were the centers of commerce. 
Their merchants had great fleets sailing to the Trade with 
seaports of the eastern Mediterranean, to meet the *^® ^*^* 
caravans from the East that had come overland laden with 



2 2 American History 

their rich cargoes. These caravans had traveled many 
hundred miles from Persia, India, even from China, and 
brought to the traders of Europe those wonderful products 
that were so eagerly sought for by the rich people of the 
European countries. 

This minghng of traders and products by means of the 
caravan^ made parts of Asia well known to the people of 
Europe. The Eastern merchants told marvelous tales of their 
rich countries, of palaces paved with gold, and cities crowded 
with people, of forests laden with spices, and gardens rich in 
perfume. Then the European merchants were filled with 
desire to find their own way to India and to those wonderful 
cities of the Far East. 

About the year 1272, Marco Polo, a young Venetian, went 
with his father and uncle traveling to China and other countries 
of the Far East. Here they were royally received and enter- 
tained for a long time. They stayed in China for about 
Theadven- twenty-five years. When they started home 
tures of they were loaded with the most costly presents. 

The party traveled as beggars, however, for fear 
of robbers. On their arrival at Venice they invited their 
friends and relatives to a banquet. During the feast the 
seeming beggars threw aside their rags and put on the most 
costly garments. They ripped open their cast-off clothing 
and drew forth quantities of diamonds, rubies, and other 
precious stones. They told marvelous stories of the countries 
they had visited, and the riches to be found in those distant 
lands. Marco Polo afterwards became a prisoner of war, 
and while in prison wrote the story of his travels. He was 
called " the prince of travelers." 

Along with the growth of cities, rise of free institutions, 
revival of industries, and extension of trade, there came into 



The Old World 



23 



European life some valuable inventions that aided the ad- 
vancement of civilization. The most notable of these was the 
invention of printing by means of movable type, Notable 
first made by John Gutenberg of Strassburg, inventions 
Germany, about the year 1450. This invention opened the 
way for the making of books and the education of the people. 
Almost equally notable was the invention of the mariner's 
compass, by means of which sailors 
could direct the course of ships sail- 
ing out of sight of land. The third 
most notable invention was that of 
gunpowder and the use of cannon, 
which made suits of armor, castles, 
and walled cities useless as means 
of defense. 

On the whole, however, the people 
at large had many things to learn. 
They knew Kttle of the shape and 
size of the earth, and were terrified 
at the mystery of the seas. In 
those days most people thought the earth was flat and that 
the ocean extended into terrible regions beyond the land. The 
sailing vessels were small, and sailors were afraid to go far from 
shore. They had heard dreadful stories of great monsters 
and sea serpents that lived in the ocean, and of terrible storms 
that wrecked all saihng craft. 

It is true that a few wise men believed that the earth only 
appeared to the eye to be flat, and that in fact it was round. 
The people generally could not be persuaded that this was so. 
They asked how a ship that sailed over one side of the ocean 
could ever sail up again, and how people could live on the other 
side of the earth with heads downward. We know now how 




Making the First Book from 
Movable Type 



24 American History 

foolish such questions were, but it was hard to make anybody 
beheve them foohsh in those days. 

In the meantime the trade with the East grew in importance, 
and merchant ships continued to sail along the Mediterranean, 
The menace and even to the ports of India. But the Turks 
of the Turks began to attack the caravans coming overland 
from Persia and India and to rob the Eastern merchants 





N 



The Known World in Those Days Consisted of Europe, Asia, and Parts of 

Africa 

of their rich wares, and pirate ships appeared in the Mediter- 
ranean Sea. Under these conditions, a sea-way to India, dif- 
ferent from the ones then known, was eagerly discussed by 
the merchants and ship owners of Europe. 

The easiest way, of course, was to sail around Africa. In 
order to do this the ships would have to cross the equator, 
A sea-way and everybody was afraid of the ' ' burning tropics, " 
to India where it was thought to be so hot that the very 

seas were boihng. Besides, Africa might extend to the end 
of the earth. Nobody knew how far the land extended, and 
seamen were afraid to find out. Adventurous sailors, from 



The Old World 25 

Portugal, however, urged onward by a wise and capable 
prince whom we know as ''Prince Henry of Portugal," crept 
fearfully down the African coast a little farther with each 
voyage until (i486) the southernmost point was reached and 
named the Cape of Good Hope. 

While these explorations and discussions were going on, a 
few learned men, desiring to discover the distant shores of 
Asia, thought that a better way would be to sail around the 
earth. If it were true that the earth was round, one could 
reach India and the East by sailing west, if he were br-ave and 
sailed far enough. 

They did not know what a long time it would take to sail 
around the big earth. They did not know what lands were 
in the way. They thought that Asia was only a few thousand 
miles across the dreaded seas. Some of their behefs were 
right and some were wrong, as we shall see farther on in our 
history. 

TOPICS ' 

The Middle Ages. Extent of the Roman Empire. The Teutons; 
the Teuton tribes ; their mode of living ; mingling with the Romans ; 
the Goths on Roman soil. Alaric and the sack of Rome. Fall of 
the Roman Empire in the West. The Middle Ages. Civilization in 
the Middle Ages. The Franks settle France and adjacent countries. 
Charlemagne ; his conquests ; his encouragement to his people. The 
Norsemen ; in Greenland ; Leif Ericson and Vinland ; shores explored ; 
failure to establish colonies. 

Life of the Nobles. The three classes of people in the Middle Ages. 
How the nobility was founded ; estates granted. Chief business of the 
nobles ; obligations to the king ; amusements. The castles ; present- 
day ruins. The times of war; combats. How the castles were de- 
fended; refuge of the peasants. Inside the castles; the great hall; 
amusements. The lord's attendants. 

Life of the People. Where the peasants lived. Serfs or villains. 
Obligations of the serfs. How the peasants lived; their food; their 



26 American History 

clothing ; their condition. The rise of towns ; ideas of freedom. Be- 
ginning of free cities. Improvement of the people. Walled towns. 
Inside the walled towns. The growth of cities. The towns of France 
and Germany. Ambitions of the people. 

Influence of the Church. Life of the church ; priests and mission- 
aries; conversion of the pagans; churches, chapels, and cathedrals. 
The great cathedrals of Europe. The cathedral a center of community 
life. The organization of the church. The monks ; their occupation ; 
dress ; vows. Monasteries ; how protected ; the fields outside ; growth 
in wealth. The power of the church; the bishops and archbishops; 
spiritual power of the Pope. Copying manuscripts. The schools of 
the Middle Ages; colleges and universities. The good done by the 
church. The Crusades; their purpose; the Crusaders; their fate. 
Capture and loss of Jerusalem. Effect of the Crusades. 

Trading with the East. What the Crusaders and pilgrims learned. 
What the travelers brought back. The beginning of trade. Venice and 
Genoa. The Eastern caravans. The tales of the Eastern merchants. 
Marco Polo ; his adventures in China ; his return to Venice ; the mar- 
velous stories of the travelers. Invention of printing ; the mariner's 
compass ; gunpowder. Belief in regard to the shape of the earth ; dread 
of the seas ; ignorance of the people. Increase of trade. Menace of the 
Turks. Need of a sea-way to India. Sailing around Africa. Prince 
Henry of Portugal. Sailing around the earth. Mistaken ideas. 



SUBJECTS FOR STUDY 

What influences led to the decay and fall of the Roman Empire? 
What effect did the mingling of Roman and Teuton races have on the 
people of Europe? Why was civilization at a standstill during the 
Middle Ages ? What does civilization owe to the activities of the church 
during the Middle Ages? What effects upon the world did the invention 
of printing, of the mariner's compass, and of gunpowder have? Why 
were India, Persia, and China further advanced in arts and sciences 
than Europe ? Why did the majority of people think the earth was flat ? 
What reason can you assign for the dread of the seas by the sailors in 
those days? What proofs did the wise men have for thinking the earth 
is round? 



The Old World 



COMPOSITION 



27 



Write an account of the hardships of a peasant's life in the Middle 
Ages. 

Describe the making of a book by a monk. 

Write an account of what an Eastern merchant told a European trader 
about his experiences in the caravan. 

MAP QUESTIONS 

Locate the Rhine and Danube rivers. Locate Rome and the extent 
of the Roman Empire. Describe the probable route of the Crusaders 
by land or by sea. Locate Venice, Genoa, Lisbon, Bombay, Peking. 
Compare the distance from Venice to China, going eastward and going 
westward. 

Collateral Reading. " The Skeleton in Armor," by Longfellow., 
" Norse Stories," by Hamilton Mabie. 



Chapter II 

DISCOVERING AND EXPLORING THE NEW 
WORLD 



1. THE STORY OF COLUMBUS 

About the year 1446 there was born in the city of Genoa 
a boy named Christopher Columbus. His father was a poor 

man, but he gave his son as good 
an education as the schools of 
that day afforded. 

The boy was fond of adventure 
as well as of study. When he 
was fourteen years old he be- 
came a sailor. For many years 
he sailed on all the seas and to 
many of the ports then known 
to the world and learned much 
about the management and care 
of ships. 

When Columbus had passed 
middle life, he was tall, well- 
formed, muscular, with fair com- 
plexion, gray eyes, and white hair. He had thought much 
about the shape of the earth and was sure that he could sail 
around it if only he could get ships to go in and men to go 
with him. 

Everybody at that time was talking about a sea-way to 
India. It was thought by many that a route to India could 

28 




Christopher Columbus 



Discovering and Exploring the New World 29 

be found by sailing around the south of Africa. Columbus 
was thinking of a different route. He believed that the earth 
was round, and he resolved some day to reach a sea-way 
India by sailing westward. *° ^^^^^ 

Marco Polo's book, though nearly two hundred years old 
at that time, made a deep impression on him. It is probable 
that he knew of all the writings of the wise men on the subject 
of geography, and of the shape of the earth, and had seen all 
the maps and charts of that day. At any rate, Columbus, 
who was then living in Lisbon, decided that if he sailed 
four or five thousand miles westward he would sail around 
the earth and come to India or China. 

Columbus was too poor to undertake the voyage at his 
own expense. He went to John II, the king of Portugal, 
and unfolded his plans. The king was much King John 
impressed by the arguments he used and by the of Portugal 
maps and charts he showed. He called a council of his wise 
men and laid the matter before them. The wise men, how- 
ever, were not wise enough. They laughed at Columbus 
and called his plans fooKsh. 

One of them privately suggested to the king that he send 
a ship secretly the way Columbus proposed, to see whether 
what he said was true. If it was, then all the glory and all 
the riches would belong to the king and need not be divided 
with Columbus. The king was weak enough to adopt this 
suggestion and the ship was sent out. The sailors, however, 
went only a short distance and came back to report that there 
was no land to be found. When Columbus heard of this 
treachery, he was very indignant. He left Portugal and went 
to live in Spain. 

He tried to get Ferdinand and Isabella, king and queen of 
Spain, to listen to his great plans, but they were engaged in 



30 



American History 



a costly war with the Moors, and had no funds with which to 
engage in so foolish an adventure. 

Columbus was much discouraged. After six or seven years' 
wandering, he resolved to leave Spain as he had left Portugal, 
and gain assistance elsewhere. He took his Kttle son, and set 




Columbus and His Son in Their Wanderings Come to a Convent 

out again on his wanderings. One day he came to a convent 
near the town of Palos and begged for a drink of water for 
his son, who was very tired and thirsty. The good monk 
asked him to rest awhile. As they talked, Columbus told 
him about his plan for sailing to Asia. 

The monk was greatly interested. He told Columbus to 



Discovering and Exploring the New World 31 

wait while he sent for a friend and for some merchants in 
the town to come and hear his plans. When they came, 
Columbus told them all about saihng across the great ocean, 
about the gold and jewels and great cities, and the heathen 
people to be converted. 

The monk was so much impressed that he sent a special 
messenger to Ferdinand and Isabella, urging upon them the 
grandeur of the plans of Columbus, and begging Ferdinand 
them not to let the glory of so great a voyage be ^^^ Isabella 
lost to Spain. By this time the Moors had been driven out of 
Spain. The country was rejoicing over the great jg^^jgu^ 
victory, and the king and queen were prepared to agrees to help 
hsten to the plans of Columbus. Accordingly, he ° ^^ ^^ 
appeared at court, explained his ideas, and showed his charts. 
He was ridiculed by many of the learned men, but he boldly 
maintained that his plans were feasible. At last the queen 
was satisfied and agreed to help the bold adventurer, with her 
own money and jewels if it was necessary. She ordered 
everything made ready for the voyage. 

Thus after more than ten years of wandering and waiting, 
Columbus found the reward of his faith and patience. 
Cheered by the help of a queen who beheved in him, he 
undertook the most famous voyage the world has ever 
known. 



2. THE VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS 

Columbus sailed from the port of Palos, Spain, August 3, 
1492. He had three vessels, — the Santa Maria, on which 
was Columbus himself, the Pinta, and the Nina. On board 
the three vessels were ninety persons. On the day the ships 
sailed, the dock was crowded with sorrowing friends and 



32 



American History 



relatives, who saw the ships depart with little hope of ever 
seeing them again. 

On the third day out, the Pinta broke her rudder, which 
made it necessary to sail to the Canary Islands, where three 
weeks passed in repairing the damage. The vessels then 
turned into the open and unknown sea. 











Columbus Sails from Spain in 1492 and Lands on the Island of San Salvador 

Columbus was sailing by a chart which he obtained from 
an Itahan named ToscanelK. He thought he was sailing 
directly for Japan and India, which he supposed were only 
a few thousand miles away. He was not expecting to dis- 
cover a new world. 

The sailors were greatly alarmed at what they thought 



Discovering and Exploring the New World 33 

was ahead of them. They believed they were going straight 
to destruction. Columbus did all he could to The alarm of 
dispel their fears. He kept two reckonings of the *^® ^aUors 
distance traveled, one to show the sailors, which was much 
less than the real distance, and an accurate one for his own use. 
After several weeks they caught sight of a flock of birds, 
and, from this, thought they must surely be near land. This 
cheered the sailors for a while, but no land appearing they 
grew more and more afraid. They wanted to turn back 




TOSCANELLI'S MaP 



and give up the foolish enterprise. But Columbus was calm 
and steady in his purpose, and kept straight on his course. 

Days passed ; the weather was dehghtful, the wind favor- 
able, and the sea calm. Birds flew about the ship; green 
seaweed floated by, and the air was sweet and fragrant. At 
last almost sure signs of land appeared and everybody was 
greatly excited. 

On the last night out not a soul slept. Columbus stood 
on deck and about ten o'clock saw a light in the distance 
and called attention to it. At two o'clock in the Land dis- 
morning a gun from the Pinta announced that covered 
land was surely in sight. Joyfully the ships dropped anchor 
to wait for the coming of the day. 



34 



American History 



On Friday, October 12, 1492, Columbus and his men first 
saw the New World. When the day dawned, they saw 
before them a beautiful island, covered with trees. A strange 
people were seen running out of the woods and crowding down 
to the shore. 

Columbus went ashore with some of his crew, and fell on 
his knees in prayer and thanksgiving. Rising, he drew his 
sword, displayed the banner of Spain, and solemnly took 

possession of the 
land in the name 
of the king. He 
called the land San 
Salvador. It was 
one of the small 
islands in the group 
of the Bahamas. 

Thus Columbus, 
after more than 
two months on the 
ocean, came to the shores of America, in spite of the doubts 
of wise men, the fears of his friends, and the mutterings of 
the sailors who went with him. 

Columbus also discovered Haiti and Cuba, and several 
other islands. He was astonished at the curious people he 
Discovers saw, whom he called Indians, thinking he was 
other islands q^ ^he coast of India. He was dehghted with 
the flowers, the birds, the fruits, and the fish found in abun- 
dance. The natives were friendly, and exchanged pieces of 
gold for beads and bits of cloth. 

After nearly three months Columbus sailed back to Spain, 
taking with him some Indians, birds, plants, gold, and other 
things he found in the New World. He returned a hero. 




Columbus Takes Possession of the Land 



Discovering and Exploring the New World 35 



Everywhere people crowded around him to welcome him, to 
kiss his hand, and to see the strange things he had brought 
from across the sea. ^ Thus does the world admire the man 
who succeeds. 

The king and queen received him at court, where he 
described his voyage and discoveries. He rode by the side 
of the royal pair and was given the title of Don. Everybody 
hastened to do honor to the great man, and many offered 
their services to go to the New World. 

Three other voyages were made by Columbus to the New 
World. On the second voyage he founded a colony on the 

Three other island of Haiti. 

voyages Qn the third 

voyage he discovered the 
island of Trinidad on the 
coast of South America. 
On the fourth voyage he 
reached the coast of Cen- 
tral America. He was 
firm in the belief that he 
had found some part of 
Asia. 

Many Spaniards went with him on these voyages, seeking 
gold and jewels and the treasures of the East. But these 
adventurers would not work ; they treated the Indians with 
great cruelty, found Httle gold, were taken sick with fever, 
and complained loudly of their treatment by Columbus. 

The enemies of Columbus poisoned the minds of the king 
and queen against him. While on his third voyage some one 
was sent to inquire into the complaints of the Last days of 
colonists. The officers put him in chains, which Columbus 
made him very indignant. He said he would wear them 




Lands Discovered by Columbus 



36 American History 

as a memento of the gratitude of princes, and he wished 
them to be buried with him. When he reached Spain his 
chains were taken off. 

At length the good Isabella died, leaving him without a 
friend. Poor and neglected, he lived as best he could by 
borrowing from his friends. He died in Valladolid, Spain. ^ 
To the very last he did not know he had discovered a new 
world, but died in the behef that he had found a new way to 
India. 

3. FINDING AND NAMING THE CONTINENT 

The news of the discoveries of Columbus spread to all 
lands. Every nation that had ships on the seas was eager 
to imitate Spain. 

About a year before Columbus made his third voyage, 
Henry VII, king of England, sent out an Italian sailor named 
John Cabot, who sailed westward in the spring of 1497. 
He also was seeking a new route to India to secure the spice 
trade for England. 

After sailing many weeks he came to land, the mainland 
of our continent, somewhere in the neighborhood of Cape 
Breton Island, at the entrance of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
He took possession of the land in the name of the king of 
England. In this way the mainland of North America was 
discovered. 

1 Columbus was buried first at Valladolid. Seven years afterwards his body 
was removed to a monastery in Seville. Twenty-three years after that it was 
again removed, to the Cathedral of the city of Santo Domingo on the island of 
Haiti. In 1796 his remains were taken with great pomp and ceremony to 
the city of Havana and buried in the Cathedral at that place. After the war 
between the United States and Spain in 1898, his body was taken back to Spain 
and now rests in Seville. 



'Discovering and Exploring the New World 37 



The next year John Cabot explored the coast of North 
America all the way from Nova Scotia to North Carolina. 
He brought back wonderful accounts of the polar Explorations 
bears he had seen on the northern shores, and of °^ J°^" ^^^°* 
the wonderful fruits and forests of the southern coast. But 
the king was not 
interested in ice- 
bergs, nor in the 
beauty of the 
southern coasts of 
the New World. 
Cabot had brought 
back no gold, and 
had not found a 
way to India. Ac- 
cordingly, our 
mother country 
took little concern 
in further explora- 
tions in the newly 
discovered conti- 
nent. In later 
years, however, 
and upon the ex- 
plorations made 
by John Cabot, 
England laid claim to all the mainland of North America. 

A few years after Cabot sailed along the shores of North 
America, a navigator named Americus Vespucius was ex- 
ploring the coasts of" South America. When he Americus 
went back to Europe he gave accounts of the Vespucius 
strange customs of the people he had seen. He said the 




John Cabot in 1497 Comes to the Mainland of 
North America amid the Icebergs at the En- 
trance OF THE Gulp of St. Lawrence 



38 



American History 




Indians wore no clothes, had a reddish skin, and were of 
medium size. They were good swimmers and runners. 
They did not sleep in beds, but in hammocks among the trees. 
„ _ He also boldly announced that the 

land which he had found was not India 
nor Asia, but was a new continent. 
Few people beHeved this to be true 
until Vespucius had made other voy- 
ages to various parts of South America, 
going as far down as Brazil, making 
charts of the coast, and bringing home 
descriptions of the birds and plants 
and many other things he had seen. 

Vespucius was a great talker as 
well as writer. He boasted much 
of his travels, and people Kstened 
eagerly to his wonderful descriptions. In one of his letters 
he wrote : ''I have found a continent more thickly 
inhabited by people and animals than are Europe, 
Asia, and Africa. It might properly be called a new world J^ 
He told so many things to prove that this new land could 
not be a part of the Old World, that at last everybody believed 
what he said was true, and that a new continent had really 
been added to the knowledge of men. 

Other maps were then drawn showing the new conti- 
nent lying between Europe and Asia, across the Atlantic 
America Ocean. Thereupon the geographers divided the 

named world into four parts. Europe was one part, Asia 

was another, Africa was another, and the newly discovered 
country was the fourth part. When the maps were made, 
this fourth part was named America in honor of Americus, 
who first declared it was a new world. 



Ships of the Sixteenth 
Century 



A new world 



Discovering and Exploring the New World 39 



4. DISCOVERING THE PACIFIC OCEAN 



Balboa 



By this time many explorers had come to the shores of 
America, and explored much of the coast. All the world now 
recognized that a new continent had been discovered, but 
what it was Kke or how far it extended nobody as yet had any 
correct idea. 

About ten years after Vespucius had made his last voyage 
to South America, a bold Spaniard named Balboa was wrecked 
in a storm off the coast of Darien. He and 
his followers secured a quantity of gold from the 
Indians, and while they were quarreling over the division, an 
old chief was so disgusted that he struck the scales with his 
fist and told them if they would travel west over the tall 
mountains, they would find a great sea, and streams whose 
banks and beds were Hned with gold. 

Balboa and his men traveled through forests and across 
streams until they came to a range of high mountains. When 
they neared the 
summit, Balboa 
was delighted to 
catch sight of 
the great ocean 
on the other 
side of the new 
continent. He 
marched down 
to the shore and 
took possession 
of the ocean and 
all its islands in the name of the king of Spain. He found 
no gold-, but he did find a great sea. 




Balboa Crosses the Isthmus oe. Darien and Discovers 
THE Pacific Ocean in 1513 



40 



American History 



In this way Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean in 15 13, 
being the first European to set his eyes upon its vast sur- 
face. However, Balboa did not know he had discovered a 
great ocean. He called it the South Sea. 

Ferdinand Magellan undertook to explore the coasts of 
South America which Vespucius had visited, to find out what 
was at the end of the great body of land, to go around it, and, 
if possible, to sail around the world. He started from Spain 
with five ships and nearly three hundred men. 




^ Good Hope OCEAN 



Strait of ^ 

Magellan *'Cape HoT-n 



The First Voyage around the World 



After losing one ship in a storm, and spending weary weeks 
along the rocky coast, the voyagers came to the straits that 
Adventures are now called Magellan, in honor of the explorer, 
of Magellan After five weeks' sailing they found themselves on 
the broad bosom of a great ocean. Its calm waters delighted 
Magellan so much that he named the ocean Pacific, which 
means peaceful. 

Magellan with his four remaining vessels sailed westward, 
not knowing how far he would have to go, nor what he would 
find, but knowing that he was on his way to Asia, and around 
the world. It was a long, distressing voyage. Food gave out, 
the water became foul, the sun bhstered the decks, and many 
of the sailors died, but Magellan refused to turn back.- 



Discovering and Exploring the New World 41 

At length they reached the PhiHppine Islands, which the 
Spaniards claimed for the king of Spain. Here the brave 
Magellan was killed in a fight with the natives, who pierced 
him through with spears and arrows. His followers then 
resumed their voyage. 

Three other ships were lost or abandoned. One ship only 
completed the voyage across the Pacific, around Africa, and 
back to Spain. Of all the five ships and three hundred men, 
only one small vessel and eighteen men returned after a 
voyage of three years. This was from 1519 to 1522. 

Sixty years after Magellan had made his voyage, Francis 
Drake, an EngHshman, made the same passage along the 
coast of Brazil, through the Straits of Magellan, Francis 
and along the western shores of South America. ^^^^® 
He was a pirate as well as a voyager and took rich toll of 
the Spanish ships whenever he met them. He entered the 
bay which now makes the harbor of San Francisco and landed. 
Seeing the strange ships and the faces of white men, the 
Indians worshiped him and his men as gods. He then crossed 
the Pacific Ocean and returned to England, being the first 
Englishman to sail around the world. He afterwards became 
a famous admiral in the service of Queen Elizabeth. 

5. THE INDIANS 

It is time for us to learn something about the people the 
explorers found in America, whom Columbus called Indians, 
and who are still called by that name. 

It is not at all certain where they came from, when they 
came, or how they ever reached these shores. We can 
only suppose that, at some past time, a few The origin of 
people from Asia may have crossed Behring *^^ Indians 
Strait and wandered southward, or that some adventurous 



42 



American History 



ship may have been blown' across the Pacific Ocean. In 
some such way the Indians of America may have originated. 
The Indians had skin of a reddish-brown or copper color. 
Most of them were tall, erect, muscular, and capable of great 
Their endurance. The eyes of the Indians were small 

appearance ^^^ black. Their cheek-bones were high and 
prominent. Their hair was coarse, black, and straight. 




The Indians Generally Lived in Small Villages 



The women wore their hair long, but the men cut theirs 
short, except a tuft on the top which was called the ''scalp 
lock." The scalp lock was left for an enemy to grip if he 
could get it, and by means of it to pull off the scalp as a 
trophy of battle. 

The Indians were not incHned to talk much, but were 
reserved and dignified, not apt to provoke a quarrel, but 
revengeful and treacherous when aroused. 

They wore but little clothing when the weather was warm. 



Discovering and Exploring the New World 43 

In winter they sometimes had clothes of soft deerskin. Often 
these skins were braided with quills and colored with paint. 
Still the Indian boasted of not being cold, even Their 
in severe weather. When asked why he did not clothing 
wear more clothes, he would point to the exposed face of the 
white man and say that the Indian was face all over. 

On his feet he wore soft skin shoes called moccasins, 
which were very comfortable. It is said that the Indian 
moccasin is the most comfortable as well as the warmest 
covering for the feet that is known. 

The women did all the hard work. They had to plant 
corn and tobacco. They made the deerskin clothes. They 
kindled the fire by rubbing two sticks together. 
They took down the tents, moved the household 
goods, and carried the babies or papooses in a pack on 
their backs. 

While the women were at work, the men sat by the fire 
and smoked, made arrow heads and spear points out of 
pieces of flint, or made bows and spears out of the strong 
wood from the forest. 

There were only a few hundred thousand Indians in all. 
They lived in various tribes all over the continent of North 
America. 

The Algonquin tribes lived along the Atlantic coast from 
Nova Scotia to Virginia. It was mainly the Algonquin 
Indians that the first settlers met. The Iro- 

• T 1 r 1 • 1 . 1 The tribes 

quois lived for the most part m what is now the 
State of New York. The Cherokees, Creeks, and Natchez 
lived in the south and along the Gulf of Mexico. The Aztecs 
in Mexico were the most advanced of all the tribes and had 
developed a fair degree of civilization. 
The Pueblo tribes lived in Arizona and New Mexico. 



44 



American History 



Their houses were built of sun-dried bricks and were often 
very large. These Indians made a fine kind of pottery, wove 
blankets, planted crops, and were a better class of Indians 
than those along the Atlantic seaboard. 

The Indians generally Hved in small villages. Their 
houses or huts, which they called wigwams, were made of 
Their the bark of trees, with a covering of grass, or were 

wigwams mere tents covered with skins. A fire was 
built on the ground in the center of the wigwam, over which 

the squaws cooked the 
food, and the smoke 
was left to escape 
through a hole at the 
top. A bed of grass or 
skins was made in a 
corner for the family 
to sleep on. They 
never thought of keep- 
ing anything clean, so there was always plenty of dirt and 
smoke and foul odors. 

The Indians were skilled in many things. They knew 
how to make a kind of rude pottery of clay, which they 
colored according to the traditions of their various tribes. 
In this they cooked their food, carried water to drink, and 
kept tobacco. They knew how to weave grass into mats, 
and later on learned to make warm blankets for the winter. 
The Indian was skilled in woodcraft. He knew the habits 
of all the animals and birds he used for food. He knew 
how to stalk the deer, to trap the beaver, to catch the fox, and 
to net the wild fowl. He could find his way through the 
densest forests by examining the trees. He could follow 
the path of a wild animal or of a foe when the white man 




Indians Making a Canoe 



Discovering and Exploring the New World 45 

could see nothing. He could hear the approach of an enemy 
or of game when all was silence to the white man's ears. 

In fact, the Indian was a simple child of the woods, know- 
ing by experience all the secrets of the forest and streams, 
fond of sports of all sorts, but not fond of hard work or of 
Kving long in one place. He had no ambition except to 
supply his daily wants, he knew no law except his own will 
or the word of his chief, and desired nothing except to be 
let alone. 

The Indians were often in a state of warfare. The many 
tribes of Indians were constantly at war with one another. 
When the white settlers began to establish homes in America, 
the Indian wars were frequent and often disastrous. 

The weapons of the Indians were bows and arrows, won- 
derfully made, with which they could shoot as straight and 
effectively as with a gun. It is said an Indian could send 
an arrow through a buffalo, and that with the animal in full 
flight. They also used the tomahawk, a hatchet made of stone, 
with which they dealt terrible blows in close conflict. 

Before going to war, the Indians colored their faces with 
war paint, dressed themselves with bonnets, in which eagle 
feathers were stuck, and in leather trousers Indian 
curiou-sly embroidered and painted. They gave warfare 
a great dance around a big fire in the village, beating their 
rude drums, dancing wildly, throwing their tomahawks, and 
boasting of what they were going to do. The dance often 
lasted all night, and was meant to please the spirit that could 
help them in war. 

When the time came to march, however, they were as still 
as panthers. They crept in single file through the forests, 
each man stepping in the footprints of the one in front of 
him, never making a sound nor cracking a twig. Their 



46 American History- 

instinct guided them through the woods. They never lost 
their way. Silently they approached the place of attack, 
and before their enemies were aware of their presence, they 
raised the terrible war whoop, and burst upon the foe with 
tomahawk and firebrand. 

Their fallen foes were scalped, and the scalp locks hung as 
trophies to the belt of the victor. Their prisoners were 
sometimes made slaves, sometimes adopted into the tribe, 
but often were cruelly tortured to death. A captured Indian 
never showed any fear. He never begged for mercy, nor 
uttered any cry, even when being burned ahve. His greatest 
glory was to die at the stake with a smile upon his face and 
taunting words upon his lips. 

The Indians had a vague notion of a Great Spirit which 
they worshiped as a being all-powerful and all- wise. Their 
Indian notion of heaven was a happy hunting ground, 

religion where brave warriors who had killed many 

enemies would go to hunt and fish forever. When an Indian 
died, his dog, his bow and arrows, and anything he needed 
in the chase, were buried with him.^ 

The Indians believed in spirits, and thought that plants, 
brooks, winds, rain, and indeed everything in nature con- 
tained a spirit, good or evil. Evil spirits caused all the sick- 
ness, trouble, and death ; calamity followed their anger, and 
success and happiness attended their good- will. Those men 
in the tribe who were supposed to drive away evil spirits were 
called the medicine men. Their idea generally was to cure 

^ Throughout the Mississippi Valley may be found many mounds of earth, 
sometimes shaped like serpents or animals. These Indian mounds are' sup- 
posed to be burial places, sites for temples, or memorials of victory. They 
are very curious and interesting. When opened, these mounds are often 
found to contain Indian relics, such as spear heads, pottery, and bones. 



Discovering and Exploring the New World 47 

sickness by beating a drum, howling and dancing and making 
as much noise as possible to scare away the evil spirit. 

The medicine men were great leaders among the Indians 
and were consulted on all occasions. Sometimes they used 
simple remedies of the woods for ordinary diseases, but when 
these were administered there was a 
great ceremony of driving away the 
evil spirit from the wigwam of the 
sick man. 

Many treaties were made by the 

white men with the Indians from time 

to time. These treaties 

Treaties . , . 

were often signed m a 
curious way, as with a belt made of 
shell beads called wampum, showing 
two figures clasping hands. Wam- 
pum was also used for money. Often 
these treaties were sacredly observed. 
The Indian taught the white man 
many things. He taught him how 

to raise corn. He also 

What the 

Indians showed him how to kill 

taught the tj-ees by mrdhng them How the Indians Signed Their 

whites . Names to a Treaty 

and so making a sunny 
field for the grain to ripen in. He taught him the use of the 
tomato and of the potato, and how to raise and smoke 
tobacco. From the Indians we first learned of the turkey, 
and of such things as cocoa and mahogany, and of many 
plants used for medicine. 

It has taken the white men many generations to drive the 
Indians away from their hunting grounds. Little by little 
their lands have been bought. They have been pushed farther 




48 American History 

and farther west. The tribes are now kept on lands called 
*' reservations," and are not allowed to leave them without 
permission. 

As a race they have never been fully civilized, though 
many live in houses and cultivate the fields as white men do. 
Even these sadly tell to their children the story of the times 
when their ancestors roamed wild and free over the whole 
land. 

TOPICS 

The Story of Columbus. Place and date of birth; his education; 
his early adventures ; his appearance in middle life. Sea-ways to India. 
What Columbus believed; the books he had read; his decision; 
his appeal to King John ; the action of the king. His appeal to Ferdi- 
nand and Isabella. Discouragement and wanderings. The monk's 
kindness. The second appeal to Ferdinand and Isabella. 

The Voyage of Columbus. Port and date of sailing ; name of vessels ; 
number of persons. Delay by accident. Sailing by chart. Alarming 
the sailors ; dispelling their fears. Hopes and disappointments. 
Courage of Columbus. The weather. The discovery of land. The 
landing; taking possession. Naming the land. The islands discov- 
ered. The Indians. The return to Spain. Honors paid him. Three 
other voyages. Action of adventurers. Enemies of Columbus. His 
last days. Death and burial. 

Finding and Naming the Continent. John Cabot; discovering the 
mainland; further exploration. Wonderful accounts. Indifference 
of mother country. Foundation of English claim to America. Americus 
Vespucius. Accounts of the Indians. Vespucius' opinion of the land. 
His other voyages. What he wrote of the continent. New maps of the 
world. Naming the new continent. 

Discovering the Pacific Ocean. Balboa; searching for gold; find- 
ing the ocean. Date of discovery. First name of the ocean. Under- 
taking of Magellan; his ships and men. The Straits of Magellan. 
Naming the ocean. Hardships of Magellan and his men. Fate of 
Magellan. Completing the voyage. Voyage of Francis Drake; ex- 
tent of voyage ; later life. 



Discovering and Exploring the New World 49 

The Indians. Origin of North American Indians. Color ; appear- 
ance; eyes; cheek-bones; hair; scalp lock. Their clothing; their 
indifference to cold ; moccasins. The work of the women. The occu- 
pations of the men. Numbers and distribution. The Algonquins; 
the Iroquois; Cherokees, Creeks, and Natchez; the Aztecs. The 
Pueblo tribes ; their houses ; their mode of living. Wigwams. Indian 
pottery. Indian woodcraft; Indian weapons. Preparing for war; 
on the march; treatment of foes and prisoners. Endurance of torture. 
Indian religion. Medicine men. Treaties. Wampum. What the 
Indians taught the white men. Present condition. 

SUBJECTS FOR STUDY 

What were some of the traits of character that made Columbus 
succeed in his undertaking? Why was he so badly treated in' his old 
age ? Should the New World have been named for him or not ? Com- 
pare sea voyages in those days with those of the present time. Why has 
it been so difficult to civilize the Indians ? 

COMPOSITION 

Imagine yourself a sailor on board the vessel of Columbus, and write 
a description of the voyage. 

Write a letter from John Cabot to the king of England, describing 
his adventures along the coast of North America. 

Write a description of the house you would live in, the food you would 
eat, and the things you would know if you were an Indian. 

MAP STUDIES 

Locate Genoa ; Palos. Trace the voyages of Columbus. Locate the 
lands explored. Where is Cape Breton? Where did Balboa first see 
the Pacific Ocean? Locate the Straits of Magellan; the Philippine 
Islands. 

Collateral Reading. "Columbus," by Joaquin Miller. Selections 
from "Hiawatha," by Longfellow. 



Chapter III 
EARLY COLONIES IN THE NEW WORLD 

1. THE SPANIARDS SETTLE FLORIDA 

At this time in the history of the world Spain was a power- 
ful and aggressive nation. She was easily the leading power 
The Spanish at sea, and in wealth and enterprise she also led all 
explorers ^]^g nations of the world. For many years after 
the discovery of America she had undisputed sway in the new 
world, and sent explorers and founders to establish her claim 
to the territory. But her motives were not worthy ones. 
Her explorers were bent on finding gold and did not hesitate 
to enslave or destroy the Indians in their mad eagerness for 
wealth. The whole story of their conquest and occupation is 
one of greed, oppression, and folly. 

The Spaniards who came over with Columbus settled in 
Cuba, Porto Rico, and other islands of the West Indies, hold- 
ing their possessions in spite of many difficulties. Every now 
and then some explorer bolder than the others would ven- 
ture to the mainland looking for gold and precious stones, or 
bent upon mere adventure, but the deep swamps, dense 
forests, and the savages kept him from going far into the 
continent. 

On the island of Porto Rico lived the governor named Ponce 
Ponce de de Leon. There were two things he greatly de- 
Leon gjj-g(j . Q^Q ^^g ^Q regain his youth, the other was 
to be famous. He had heard from the Indians that on a 
neighboring island there was a fountain in which if one bathed, 

50 



Early Colonies in the New World 51 



old age and white hairs would fall away and youth and black 
locks would come in their stead. He was about fifty- three 
years of age. 

Straightway the foohsh and superstitious man sailed west 
in search of the fountain of youth. On Easter Sunday, 1513, 
he came in sight of land, 
beautiful land, with 
flowers blooming, and 
woods bright with birds 
and sweet with perfume 
of orange flowers. He 
called the land Florida, 
from pascua flor.ida, 
which in Spanish means 
Easter. 

For nearly a year 
Ponce de Leon wan- 
dered up and down look- 
ing for the fountain of 
youth. In 1521 he 
again came to Florida, 
this time to estabHsh a 
colony. In a battle with 
the Indians he was 
wounded with an arrow. 
He was taken to Cuba, 
where he died of his 
wound. 

He was the first Spaniard that ever traveled inland on the 
territory now a part of the United States. While De Leon 
was exploring Florida, and Magellan was on his voyage 
around the world, a Spanish soldier named Cortez marched 




PoNLi- DL Leon Names Florida in 15 13 and 
Then Explores It in Search of the Foun- 
tain OF Youth 



52 American History 

with an army through Mexico, and captured the City of 
Mexico. It was a beautiful country he found, a land of fine 
The conquest roads, good houses, splendid temples of worship, 
of Mexico aj^(^ treasure houses full of gold. The story of 
the conquest of Mexico was like a fairy tale of the olden time, 
and when the Spaniards in Europe heard about the gold that 
Cortez had found their excitement was intense. 

About twenty-five years after the naming of Florida, and 
the conquest of Mexico, the governor of Cuba, Hernando de 
Soto, resolved to try his fortune in this strange 
land. Like all the rest he also wanted gold. Six 
hundred men joined him. They landed in Tampa Bay on 
the west coast of Florida, and traveled north. The country 
was full of swamps and thickets. Many of the Spaniards 
were ill with fever, all suffered for food, and many were ex- 
hausted by the hard marches. 

De Soto and his men crossed what is now Georgia, Ala- 
bama, and Mississippi. They robbed the Indians of their 
food, made slaves of them, and compelled them to carry pro- 
visions for use on the march. At one place De Soto took 
captive an Indian princess and compelled her to accompany 
him several hundred miles. Still he found no gold, nor silver, 
nor precious stones. 

After many weary weeks, the Spaniards came to a great 
river. They asked the Indians the name of the noble stream, 
and the reply was ''Mississippi," which means Father of 
Waters. De Soto and his followers were probably the first 
white men to gaze upon this lordly current. They had reached 
a spot near the present city of Memphis. 

Crossing the river, the Spaniards hunted for gold in the 
territory that is now the States of Missouri and Arkansas, but 
were disappointed as usual. De Soto returned to the Mis- 



Early Colonies in the New World 53 

sissippi, and was seized with a fever. His followers laid him 
on a cot under a tree, where he died (1542). His body was 
taken by night to the middle of the great river, weighted with 
stones, and sunk to the bottom. Into the keeping of the 
mighty stream was given the body of the explorer who in all 
probability was the first white man to gaze upon its waters. 

Other Spanish explorers had adventures in America, some 
landing along the coast, others going far into the interior, and 
penetrating into the Far West. 

At the time that De Soto was on his march- through the 
tangled forests of the Mississippi Valley, Francisco Coronado 
set out from Mexico to find the seven cities of Francisco 
Cibola, which were fabled cities of the New World Coronado 
supposed to contain vast riches in gold and jewels. He 
traveled north for many weary weeks, possibly as far as 
Kansas or Nebraska of the present day, but he found only 
unfriendly Indians and vast stretches of rich uncultivated 
plains. 

As years passed, the land gradually became known to the 
Spaniards. In 1565, St. .Augustine in Florida was settled. 
It is the oldest town in the United States, and still preserves 
many of the original narrow streets. Twenty years after that, 
Santa Fe in the Far West was founded. 

2. THE FRENCH SETTLE CANADA 

The riches of the New World, especially from Mexico and 
Peru, that had poured into the treasury of Spain were rap- 
idly consumed by her wars at home. Her do- xheriseof 
minion was much more extensive than at the pres- France and 
ent day, but her vast possessions brought only ^^^^ 
wars and weakness. France and England were rapidly ris- 
ing in power and importance, and were challenging Spain at 



54 



American History 



every point. The French king, Francis I, indignantly de- 
clared, ''The king of Spain wages war with me with the riches 
he draws from the West Indies alone. Henceforth, I shall 
feel free to seize all the lands I can get in America." There- 
fore, France turned her attention to settlements in America. 




Champlain Sails up the St. Lawrence River in 1608 and Selects a Site , 
FOR THE City of Quebec 

The French explorers, led by Verrazano, an Italian in the 
service of France, sailed along the coast of America, from 
North CaroHna to Newfoundland, 1524, probably entering 
New York Bay and Narragansett Bay. 



Early Colonies in the New World 55 

Jacques Cartier, a Frenchman, sailed up a river, which he 
named the St. Lawrence, seeking for a place to plant a colony. 
The river grew so narrow and the sailors suffered jacques 
so much for food, that, after seeing a mountain, Cartier 
which he named Montreal, he gave up the attempt. Several 
years later he planted a colony in Canada, on the site of 
Quebec, but it was not successful. 



4*^ 




'«*?^, . 






^"U^^ 




1 ^* ' 




f^:; 



The First Winter at Quebec Was a Hard One 



Nearly seventy-five years passed before France resumed 
her activities in the New World. Then, Samuel de Cham- 
plain, a French soldier, sailed along the shores of samuei de 
New England, explored the harbors, and made Champiain 
maps of the coast line. Many of the names that he gave to 
places along the coast have been retained to the present day. 
In 1608 he sailed up the St. Lawrence River and founded the 
town of Quebec. 

He pushed his journeys far up the river, into the Great 
Lakes themselves, and was the first white man to visit that 
beautiful sheet of water that is called Lake Champiain, in 



56 American History- 

honor of its discoverer. He crossed Lake Huron and Lake 
Ontario, and in spite of many hardships penetrated deep into 
the heart of the northern woods. 

The colony at Quebec had a hard struggle for life. The 

first winter was a terrible one. Snow and ice covered the 

rude cabins, food was almost exhausted, and 

Quebec 

nearly every one was sick. Of the twenty-eight 
who formed the colony, all died but eight. Others came the 
next year, however, and Champlain did all he could to keep 
up the spirits and hope of the people. 

The Indians had never seen white men before, and believed 
they possessed very wonderful powers. Their armor which 
could not be pierced by arrows, and their guns which made 
so loud a noise were objects of great mystery. 

The friendly Algonquins and Hurons asked Champlain to 

join them in their war against the Iroquois. Champlain 

agreed to join the war party. A great war 

The Iroquois (Jancc was held in Quebec. The boats then went 

become . 

enemies ^p the river, and afterwards the men went over- 

land until they came near the village of their 
enemies. The Iroquois were ready to receive them. 

Champlain and his few soldiers, who were in front, displayed 
their polished armor and white skins. Their loud guns 
blazed forth, bringing down an Indian at each shot. The 
Iroquois, though in large numbers, were so astonished at 
these heavenly warriors whom no arrows could pierce, and 
who hurled lightning and thunder with such deadly aim, that 
they fled in terror, leaving everything behind. 

The victory was complete. Fear did more damage than 
the guns. The Iroquois henceforth were the fiercest enemies 
of the white men in the north. 

Champlain livedi in Quebec for many years. The town 



Early Colonies in the New World 57 

struggled on, after twenty years having no more than one 
hundred and five persons in all. However, it has grown into a 
great city. Its foundation established the French people in 
Canada, and gave a distinct French tone to much of the 
northeastern part of America. 

The Spaniards had occupied the southern part, the French 
the northern part, and now we shall see that the English 
came and took possession of all that lay between. 

All this time England was fast becoming a great nation, 
rapidly increasing in prosperity and wealth. Agriculture was 
improved, and manufactures were increased, espe- The growth 
daily in the making of cloth. English commerce °^ England 
was extending to all parts of the world. When Antwerp in 
Belgium was almost destroyed by the wars between the Dutch 
and the Spaniards many of the merchants and manufacturers 
of that town came to England. The result was that London 
became the greatest trading center in the world. 

Elizabeth was now queen of England (1558- 1603). Under 
her energetic rule English ships appeared on all seas, and 
English merchants and sailors became the most daring and 
skillful in the world. Their enterprising captains did not 
hesitate to attack and plunder Spanish ships in the waters of 
the New World, and seize the treasures with which they were 
laden. Philip, king of Spain, angered at the repeated attacks 
of Drake and other English sea captains on the Spanish 
treasure ships, prepared for war on England. 

A great fleet called the ''Spanish Armada" set sail for the 
English shores (1588). The Enghsh fleet was ready for them. 
The English vessels were of lighter build and The Spanish 
swifter movement and were commanded by the Armada 
best seamen of the times. The Armada sailed up the EngHsh 
Channel closely pursued by the English fleet. At Calais the 



58 



American History 



Spanish fleet anchored to take on an army. The English cap- 
tains set burning ships afloat that, drifting among the Spanish 
ships, so alarmed the Spaniards that they cut their cables and 
sailed out to sea in a panic of fear. 

After an all-day fight the Armada sailed north, and was over- 
whelmed in a terrific storm that dashed many of the boats to 
pieces on the shores of Scotland and Ireland. An Enghsh 
ofiicer reported that he counted a thousand Spanish corpses 




The Spanish Armada Set Sail for England in 1588 

on a five-mile space on the coast. Only half the great fleet 
of Spain returned home. From this time on Spain no longer 
was a power to be dreaded and England became the mistress 
of the seas. 



3. THE ENGLISH SETTLE VIRGINIA 

Sir Walter Raleigh was one of the favorite courtiers of 
Queen Elizabeth of England. One of his plans was to estab- 
Sir Walter Hsh a colony in America. He secured the patent 
Raleigh qj. right from the queen to make a settlement 

somewhere in her domains in America. He sent ships to ex- 
plore the shores and look for a place to found a colony. The 
sailors brought back glowing accounts of the richness and the 
beauty of the country. In honor of Elizabeth, who was a 



Early Colonies in the New World 59 

virgin, or unmarried, queen, the whole country from Canada 
to Florida was named Virginia. 

Plans were at once made to send over colonists. Raleigh 
himself did not go, but he sent one hundred persons, with 
Ralph Lane as srovernor, who in 1585 made a „ , . ,. „ 

^ ° . Raleigh's first 

settlement on Roanoke Island, on the coast of the colony 
present State of North Carolina. 

The colonists, however, were not willing to work. They 
were idle and lazy, and would rather wander about looking 
for gold and silver than raise corn and vegetables for food. 
They came near starving, and would have done so if Sir 
Francis Drake, who had been fighting the Spaniards in the 
West Indies, had not come along to see how they were pros- 
pering. 

He found the settlers in such a bad condition, and so home- 
sick for their native land, that he took them back to England 
with him. 

These colonists, however, brought home some valuable 
information to the people of England. They explained the 
use of Indian corn, and how it was ground into meal and 
made into bread. They also brought home the potato, which 
Raleigh planted on one of his farms in Ireland. The potato 
grew so well and was so good for food that it has since been 
called the Irish potato, and is now the main article of food 
of the people of Ireland. » 

The greatest interest was taken in the tobacco which the 
colonists brought back. The courtiers, and even the queen, 
were persuaded to smoke. Sir Walter himself learned to 
smoke, and liked tobacco very much. As he sat in his room 
one day, smoking his pipe, his servant entered with a pitcher 
of ale, which he emptied on Sir Walter's head, thinking he was 
on fire. 



6o American History 

Raleigh sent out other colonists in 1587 with John White 
as governor. They also settled at Roanoke, and set to work 
Raleigh's to rebuild the houses left by the other colony two 
second colony yg^rs before. Governor White's daughter, Mrs. 
Dare, was one of the company. Soon after they landed, a 
girl was born to her, who was named Virginia Dare. She was 
the first white child born of Enghsh parents in what is now 
the United States. Governor White stayed a Httle while, 
saw the colony well started, and then went back to England 
to get more suppHes. 

It was three years before Governor White returned. A 
war between England and Spain had been going on, and 
The lost nobody had time to think about a poor little 

colony colony in America. When the war was over, 

Governor White set out to find his colonists, but not a trace 
of them could be found. The houses were abandoned, and 
the fields were overgrown, but no signs of massacre or vio- 
lence were seen. The colonists had disappeared, and to this 
day no man knows what became of them. For this reason 
the colony is known as the lost colony. 

After Raleigh's colony failed, it was a number of years be- 
fore the English again tried to make a settlement in America. 
Fishing vessels, however, plied back and forth between the 
Trade with ^^^ World and the Old. Cargoes of furs were 
the New bought from the Indian traders and hunters. 

World j^-^]^ woods, dyes tuffs, and valuable plants used for 

medicine were brought from the shores of America. 

All this trade induced wealthy and influential merchants of 
England to form companies for colonizing the territory claimed 
English by the Crown. Two companies were formed, 

companies granted charters by the government, and all the 
land of Virginia divided between them. One of these com- 



Early Colonies in the New World 6i 

panics was called The London Company and the other The 
Plymouth Company. 

The London Company made haste to dispatch a body of 
colonists to that part of the land for which they had a grant. 
One cold day in December, 1606, three small ships sailed 
from England, with one hundred and five persons on board, 



7u(\\\w4^/^\f 



P L \Vi\I () l^TT II 







Territory of the Plymouth and London Companies 



bound for the New World. The orders for the government of 
the colony were put into a box and sealed, not to be opened 
until the ships reached America. 

It took these ships six weeks to get out of sight of England, 
on account of the bad weather and the smallness of the vessels. 
They sailed by the way of the Canary Islands and the West 
Indies to avoid the heavy cold seas of winter. 



62 American History 

After a four months' voyage the colonists came to shores 
they did not recognize. A storm drove them into the mouth 
Arrival of a large river, up which they sailed. They were 

in America greatly charmed with the appearance of the coun- 
try. It was now early spring, the birds were singing in the 
trees, flowers were beginning to bloom, the forests were green, 
and the land looked very welcome after the tedious ocean 
voyage. The river they named the James River, after James 
I, then king of England. 

On the 13th day of May, 1607, the colonists landed forty 
Settlement of miles from the mouth of the river, at a place 
Jamestown which seemed suitable for a town. Here the first 
permanent Enghsh colony in America was estabHshed, and 
called Jamestown. 

Every man set to work. Trees were cut down, tents were 
pitched, a fort was built, and spaces cleared for gardens. 
Hardships of Trouble, however, came on the colonists thick and 
the colonists fg^gt. The food Supply, as usual, had been eaten 
too freely. Soon it was nearly all gone, and there was not 
time to raise a crop. The Indians were showing hostility. 
In fact, they attacked the town while the men were at work, 
kilUng seventeen men and one boy. 

The water was impure and gave the colonists fever. The 
heat of the climate soon became so intense that the men 
Suffering and refused to work on their houses or on their Httle 
discourage- farms. The tents became rotten and torn. The 
"^®°* colonists, hke most of the others who had come 

over, were idle and little inchned to hard work. The result 
was that during the first summer fifty of them died, some of 
sickness, some by the hands of the Indians, and some for 
want of sufficient food. The prospect was discouraging. 
Everybody was in despair and anxious to return to England. 



Early Colonies in the New World 63 

4. THE PROGRESS OF JAMESTOWN 

The settlement at Jamestown owed much to Captain John 
Smith, who had come over with the colonists. He now 
took charge and compelled every man to work, captain Smith 
''Those who do not work shall not eat," were his **^es charge 
orders, and the lazy ones had to labor or starve. He drilled 
the garrison, strengthened the fort, mapped out the country. 




The Indians Capture John Smith 



sent letters to England for suppHes, and received new col- 
onists as they came over. 

He was a high-tempered man, getting into many quarrels 
and having many marvelous adventures, accounts of which he 
wrote in a book. It is not certain that we can 

IT n 1 1 1 • ir 1 • • His character 

believe all he wrote about himself, but it is true 
that he was a brave man, who more than once saved the 
colony from destruction. 
He relates that on one of his trips into the Indian country 



64 



American History 



he was taken prisoner, but not before he had slain two Indians 
with his pistol. The Indians made ready to put him to death, 
but he took out his pocket compass and showed them^ the 
trembling needle, which they could see but could not touch 
on account of the glass case. This so interested the savages 
that the warriors marched him to their village. 

The Indians had condemned the brave captain to death, 
and the day came at last for his execution. The chief was 
Pocahontas Called Powhatan. He sat before the fire in his 
saves his life ^gj^|-^ clothed in a robe made of raccoon skins. 
Around him sat the squaws. The grim warriors stood with 
their faces, arms, and necks painted red, and with chains of 




Pocahontas Begs Her Father to Spare the Life oe John Smith 

shell beads around their necks. Two big stones were brought 
and put in front of Powhatan. Smith was led in, and his 
head was laid on the stones. 

The warriors seized their clubs, and stood awaiting the 
sign from Powhatan to dash out the brains of their captive. 
Pocahontas, the twelve-year-old daughter of the chief, in a 
moment of tenderness rushed up and knelt down by the 
prisoner, taking his head in her arms and begging her father 



Early Colonies in the New World 65 

to spare his life. The old chief, who loved his beautiful young 
daughter, consented. Smith was released and sent back to 
Jamestown, very much to his own relief and to the joy of his 
friends. 

From this time on Pocahontas was the true friend of the 
white men. After a while she married a young English- 
man named John Rolfe. Before her marriage she Marries 
became a Christian and was given the name of Re- J**^" ^°^^® 
becca. She went to England and was received at court with 
much favor and consideration. Her gentle manners won the 
hearts of every one. 

Her husband decided to go back to Jamestown. Just as 
the ship was ready to start, Pocahontas was taken ill and died, 
leaving one young son. Pocahontas was buried in England, 
mourned by all who knew her. Many families in Virginia 
today are proud to claim their descent from this brave and 
gentle Indian girl. 

John Smith left the colony and returned to England. At 
the time of his departure there were about five hundred 
people in Jamestown. Not having his strong hand to guide 
and control the colony, troubles quickly arose. The men 
became idle and planted no crops. The Indians grew sus- 
picious and would not sell corn or any kind of food. The 
natural result followed. The colonists were reduced to star- 
vation. 

The starving . people ate everything they could lay their 
hands on. They even ate their own dogs, horses, and such 
things as mice, snakes, and lizards. The Indians «« The starv- 
watched for wanderers from the colony to kill ingTime" 
them in the woods. By the end of the winter only sixty of 
all the five hundred colonists were left alive. The others had 
perished. This was known as the " Starving Time" (1609). 



66 



American History 



Another shipload of people, however, was on the way to 
Jamestown, with Sir Thomas Gates, a new governor for the 
Sir Thomas colony. These colonists had been shipwrecked 
Gates arrives g^^^^ j^g^^j taken refuge on one of the Bermuda 
Islands, where they had spent the winter. As soon as spring 
came they made new ships and started for Jamestown. 

It was well they did, 
for when they arrived 
they found the colonists 
almost perishing for food, 
and piteously waiting to 
be fed and taken away 
from that dreadful place. 
If Gates had been ten 
days later, not a man 
would have been left alive 
in Jamestown. 

Gates himself had food 
for only two weeks more, 
and in this desperate 
condition he decided to 
take the colonists on 
board, abandon the town, 
and sail to Newfound- 
land, hoping to fall in 
with some fishing and 
trading vessels. The 
people of Jamestown were 
glad enough to go, and 

Powhatan's Country .-, -, . ■, -.i 

SO they departed with 
Gates, leaving not a soul on the shores of America to claim 
an Enghsh settlement. 




Early Colonies in the New World 67 

When they reached the mouth of the James River they 
were met by a fleet of vessels from the mother country, bring- 
ing new colonists and plenty of food. Then there Lord Deia- 
was great rejoicing. This was better than going ^^^® arrives 
to Newfoundland. Lord Delaware was with the new fleet, 
as governor of the colony. He took the colonists back to 
Jamestown, gave thanks for their deHverance, and soundly 
scolded them for their idleness and lack of foresight, which 
had brought them into such a miserable phght. 

With Lord Delaware, and those who succeeded him, the 
colonists fared better. Every man was given a small farm 
and made to cultivate it for his own use. Houses were built, 
new^ settlements were made up and down the river, and every 
year people came from England. 

The colonists now (161 2) turned their attention to the 
planting of tobacco. It is said that John Rolfe, the husband 
of Pocahontas, was the first white man to grow it 
for sale. The people of England had grown fond 
of smoking, and there was a demand for tobacco. When the 
people in Jamestown found they could sell all the tobacco 
they could raise, they began to plant large quantities of it. 

From that time they began to prosper. 'Nearly everybody 
became a tobacco planter. Tobacco was growing every- 
where, even in the streets of the town. With the money 
from the sale of it, the colonists bought many things they 
needed. Vessels came up the river to sell suppKes and to buy 
tobacco. Taxes were paid in tobacco. Salaries were paid 
in tobacco. At last the people had found an occupation and 
were content. 

One thing more was needed, and that was wives. There 
were too many men and too few women in the colony. The 
company in London knew that the settlers would never be 



68 American History 

content without homes and women to take care of them. 
Accordingly, a shipload of young women, of good character 
Wives for the and health, was sent over to Jamestown. Each 
colonists young woman was to choose her husband, who 

must pay one hilndred and twenty pounds of tobacco, to 
cover the cost of the passage to America. 

When the ship arrived with ninety young women on board, 
the men greeted them gladly. Courting was done in a hurry, 
and ministers were on hand to marry them at once. The 
tobacco was paid down, and all the women found good homes 
in a prosperous colony. Other ships came with young women 
for wives. Soon the settlers' homes showed the touch of 
woman's hands, signs of peace and prosperity and content- 
ment were on all sides, and the colony was well on its way 
to success. 

5. AFFAIRS IN VIRGINIA 

At first everybody was required to Hve out of a common 
stock. This was one of the reasons why the people of the 
Reasons for colony in Virginia were dissatisfied. No matter 
discontent j^q^ hard a man worked, or what he raised on his 
Httle farm, he had to put it all together with the others. Each, 
man drew out of this common stock what he needed for his 
own use. In this way every man felt that he was working 
for the colony and not for himself. This made the indus- 
trious ones support the idle and lazy. 

When Thomas Dale became governor of Virginia, he 
promptly changed all this. He gave every man his own Httle 
farm and allowed him to keep all he made on it. Those who 
worked had an abundance. Those who were idle had noth- 
ing. All that Dale required of each man was that he should 
pay two and one-half barrels of corn yearly as his share of 



Early Colonies in the New World 69 

the tax. This change brought about greater activity and 
more content. 

Another cause of discontent was that all the laws for the 
colonists were made in England, and whatever governor was 
sent over by the king could do as he chose, with- a new charter 
out asking the consent of the colonists. This also ^°^ Virginia 
was changed, and a new charter was granted to Virginia, 
allowing the people to have a voice in the making of their 
laws. They were allowed to have a general assembly of per- 
sons chosen by them, who were to meet and make laws for 
the government of the colony. The governor was still ap- 
pointed by the king, but the people could decide many things 
for themselves. 

Under the provision of the new charter, the people of each 
settlement, which was also called a borough, elected repre- 
sentatives to a general or colonial assembly, which First colonial 
met for the first time in Jamestown, July 30, 1619. assembly 
This was the first time in the history of America that a meet- 
ing was held by the representatives of the people for the pur- 
pose of making laws. It was America's first legislature. 

Other people came over to Virginia in great numbers. 
In one year as many as twelve hundred joined the various 
settlements, and peace and prosperity appeared 
on all sides. The settlers, as fast as they came 
over, were given small farms, upon which they built houses 
and estabHshed their famihes. 

Lands were cleared, corn and tobacco were planted, and 
roads between the settlements and the farms were laid out. 
Ships appeared on the rivers, with live stock, farm utensils, 
clothing, medicine, and other articles from England. On 
the docks were piled huge hogsheads of tobacco and bags 
of corn to be sent to England. 



70 



American History 



In 1619 a Dutch war vessel arrived in Jamestown, and 

sold to the colonists twenty negroes to be used as slaves. 
Slavery The negroes had been captured on the coast of 

introduced Africa. They were very docile, easily managed, 
and made excellent field hands. This was the beginning of 
slavery in what is now the United States. 

One sad event checked the general joy. Powhatan, the 
friend of the white men, had died. The new chief looked 
with distrust and suspicion upon the palefaces. The white 
men kept on coming in such numbers that he was afraid they 
would become too strong for the Indians and drive them away. 

The red men already foresaw 
their fate. 

Silently and secretly the 
Indians gathered about their 
council fires and 
made their deadly 
plans. They were to hide in 
the forests and around the 
plantations until noon, when 
the men would be in the fields 
and without their guns. Then 
the savages were to rush in 
and murder everybody. The 
cruel plot was laid, the Indians 
were on the warpath, and the 
colonists were not aware of 
their danger. 

On the morning of the mas- 
sacre (1622), a friendly Indian 
ran into Jamestown, and told the people that the Indians were 
gathering for the destruction of the whites. It was too late 



M 






4ii?'*»IS***>Sii 




|y_--. 




-li 


H;!^; : 1 ^ ^H^^H^H 


^fz'- 




hi 




/!'< %/^ 




i 

ll*!' 




r 




ill 




xr^ 




1 








. j: 


|p' 


m 


V ■■■''''' 




■: i 




te. 


k 




:^''>;sf ;;■■';; '■"^'■■■'■':?%¥5':^ 


.1^^^ 



The massacre 



A Converted Indian Gives Warning 
or THE Intended Massacre 



Early Colonies in the New World 71 

to save any place but Jamestown, or to notify any of the 
planters. The blow fell. The painted savages burned and 
murdered and scalped until four hundred people were killed 
and eighty plantations were reduced to eight. It was a 
dreadful massacre. 

The white people took their revenge upon the Indians. 
For years a war was kept up in which the lives of many white 
people as well as of many Indians were lost. The savages 
were hunted and driven from place to place until they were 
thoroughly beaten and punished. They were then glad to 
sue for peace. 

6. THE PILGRIMS IN NEW ENGLAND 

The shores of New England were very well known to the 
English by this time. Fishing vessels often went that way, 
and Captain John Smith, our hero of Jamestown, had ex- 
plored the coast for many miles and had given the land the 
name of New England. We have now to see who came there 
to make a settlement. 

To do this let us go back to England. We find that at 
that time people were not allowed to think as they chose 
in regard to religion. The king, James I, a nar- The king's 
row-minded and obstinate ruler, declared that religion 
everybody should think as he thought and that there should 
be but one church and one form of worship. Nowadays, no 
king would do such a thing. People do as they please about 
religious matters, join any church they like, go to service or 
stay away, as it suits them. But things were different then 
and people had to do as the king said. 

There were some people in England who did not like this, 
because they wanted to worship God in their own way. Be- 
sides that, they thought the church should be purified of 



72 American History 

its corrupt practices. In derision, these people were called 

Puritans. Some of these Puritans resolved to leave the estab- 

Ushed church and form a separate congresfation of 

The Puritans , , rr^i , , ..o • ,, 

their own. They became known as Separatists. 

After enduring many persecutions this little band escaped 
from England and went to Hve in Holland. Here they stayed 
twelve years, working hard, attending to their own business, 
and having the kind of church service and religion they Hked. 

The only objection to remaining in Holland was that the 
children were learning Dutch customs and speaking the 
Dutch laneruage. Therefore these wanderers, who 
became known as ''Pilgrims," decided to come to 
America. While other colonists turned to these shores for 
gold and gain, the Pilgrims came here to find a place of free- 
dom to worship God according to their own ideas. 

It was decided to send a small number of their people over 
to America to find a place for them all to settle. Two vessels 
were engaged to take the colonists over, but hardly had they 
sailed when one of the ships sprung a leak and had to go into 
harbor for repairs. The repairs were of no avail and the 
vessel was abandoned. About one hundred of the Pilgrims 
gathered on board the other vessel — the Mayflower — 
bound for America. 

The party intended to land somewhere on the New Jersey 
coast, where the king had given them permission to go, glad 
to get rid of them doubtless and hoping all the others of their 
sort would soon follow. The weather on the voyage was so 
bad that the Mayflower came to land around Cape Cod. 
This seemed as good a place as any, and the settlers decided 
to found their colony there. 

The Pilgrims held a meeting in the cabin of the Mayflower, 
and signed an agreement among themselves, by which each 



Early Colonies in the New World 73 

one bound himself to obey all the laws of the colony, and to 
see that only good laws were made. They chose John Carver 
to be governor. Then they began to explore the coast to 
find a good place to locate. 




The Pilgrims Gathkr in 



HE Cabin of the "Mayflower" aistd Sign the 
Compact 



The Pilgrims settled at a place which Captain John Smith 
had marked Plymouth on his map. They decided to make 
that the site of their town, because it reminded Landing of the 
them of their old home in England. Tliis was Piig"ms 
December 21, 1620, thirteen years after Jamestown in Vir- 
ginia had been settled. 

On Christmas Day the first house was begun. It was a 
rude storehouse for provisions. All that day and for many 
days after, the men cut down trees, built cabins for their 
famiHes, covered them with thatch, filled up the cracks with 
mud and mortar, and put oiled paper in the windows. It was 
very cold, and the colonists suffered dreadfully. The winter 
settled down dreary and severe. Half the colonists died, 



74 



American History 



among, them Governor Carver himself. William Bradford 
was chosen in his place, and the people did the best they could 
until spring. 

The Indians were watching them. The colonists did not 
know whether they were friendly or not, so the graves of the 
dead were leveled, plowed over, and planted with corn, in 
order that the savages could not tell how many had died. 




The Pilgrims Suffer Great Hardship 



One day an Indian walked into the village crying aloud, 
^'Welcome, Englishmen." His name was Samoset, an Indian 
Samoset and from Maine. He had learned a little English from 
Squanto |-]^g fishermen along the coast. Samoset became 

the friend of the colonists. He brought another Indian, 
named Squanto, who lived a long time with the English and 
helped them in many ways. 

He told the settlers to plant their corn when the oak leaf 
was as big as a mouse's ear, and to drop a dead herring in each 
hill for fertilizer. He hunted and fished for the colonists, and 



Early Colonies in the New World 75 

became their guide, interpreter, and protector. He told 
the Indians that the white men kept the plague buried in the 
ground and could let it loose whenever they liked. It was 




Samoset Enters the Village and Calls Out, "WELcoiiE, Englishmen" 

through his help that a treaty was made with Massasoit, a 
neighboring chief, which was faithfully kept by both sides for 
fifty years. 

But not all of the Indians were so friendly. Canonicus, 
the chief of the Narragansetts, did not like to see the white 
men on his soil. He sent Governor Bradford a Enmity of 
bundle of arrows tied in a snake skin. The mes- Canonicus 
senger dropped it in the village street and ran away as fast 
as he could. 

Governor Bradford knew that this meant war. He filled 
the snake skin full of powder and shot and sent it back to 
Canonicus. If there was one thing the Indians were afraid 
of, it was the gun of the^ white man, and the mysterious black 
dirt that could turn into thunder and throw deadly balls. 



76 



American History 



Canonicus looked at the snake skin and decided that he did 
not desire war. 

Among the leaders of the Pilgrims of Plymouth was the 
stout and vaHant soldier, Miles Standish. He was small in 
Appearance ^^^^' ^^^ yellow hair and beard, .quick of temper, 
of Captain and brave as a lion in his deahngs with the Indians. 
Some of them called him ''boiling water" on ac- 
count of his temper; others called him "Captain Shrimp" on 



'•i/^ ' .3p^4^^"*' ■ lErk9^^^^i^ j 


^te\ 1 


^^ X^V ' 




l^H^5 


-^'i -<1 


^■- - ^- ::-..:. 


- 





Captain Miles Standish and Sixteen Followers Land from the 
TO Explore the Coast 



Mayflower " 



account of his size and color. He and sixteen followers were 
the first of the Pilgrims to land from the Mayflower. 

His wife died the first year of the colony, when so many 
perished from the hardships. At one time Standish and six 
others were the only well ones. They brought all the wood, 
made all the fires, cooked most of the food, and even washed 
the clothes of nearly the entire colony. 

Captain Standish was the leader of the colonists in their 
dealings with the Indians. He required every man to carry 
his gun with him, and be ready to use it. Even when the 



Early Colonies in the New World 77 

colonists assembled to go to church, each man brought his 
musket to the captain's door. Then they marched 

, , , , . , , His orders 

by twos and threes to the meetmg-house, the 

women along with them. The men stood their guns by their 

sides while service was being held. 

The Pilgrims had passed their first summer, and it was now 
autumn. The corn was ripe in the fields, the nuts were falling 
in the woods, the game was plentiful, and the The first 
Indians were peaceful. " Let us gather our crops, Thanksgiving 
call in our Indian friends, have a day or two of feasting and 
fun, and call it Thanksgiving," said Governor Bradford. 

To this the Pilgrims all agreed, after they had been granted 
a whole week instead of one or two days. Massasoit was 
invited. He came with a string of bones and a pouch of 
tobacco around his neck, his face daubed with paint, and his 
hair sleek with oil. Governor Bradford said he ''looked 
greasily." His braves were with him in all the glory of deer- 
skins and feathers, and with faces painted all the colors of 
the rainbow. 

The white men and the Indians went hunting, and killed 
wild turkeys and deer for the feast. The women cooked the 
meat, broiled the fish, baked the bread, and the young people 
waited on the tables. Under the trees the tables were spread. 
Around them sat the Pilgrims and their Indian friends. Jokes 
were passed, stories were told, and the old times in England 
and Holland were talked over. Then followed games and 
shooting matches, and by night the Indians danced and sang 
their war chants. 

It was a royal week of Thanksgiving. The custom has 
now passed into a national holiday, and once a year the whole 
nation rejoices in its prosperity and gives thanks for its many 
blessings. 



yS American History 

7. THE PURITANS IN NEW ENGLAND 

We have already seen that many people in New England 
did not like the established church, and thought it was cor- 
rupt. Those who tried to purify the church were called 
Puritans. Some of these separated from the church, and 
some did not. Those who did not leave the church but who 
refused to conform and subscribe to the teachings of the 
established church were called '' Nonconformists." 

We are now to see that these Puritans, exasperated by the 
policy of Charles I, who was no less a bigot and reUgious 
tyrant than his father James I, also came to New England to 
find homes and freedom to worship in their own manner. 

The old Plymouth Company secured a charter to a vast 
territory which they called New England. This company 
Salem and made ready a ship to take a body of Puritans over 
Chariestown ^q America in 1628, with John Endicott as leader. 
The colonists landed on the shores of Massachusetts and 
founded a town which they called Salem. The next year 
Endicott sent an exploring party up the Charles River and 
began a settlement which took the name of Chariestown. 
i A large number of Puritans were desirous of coming to 
America. A royal charter was secured from Charles I, organ- 
Settlement izing a new company known as the Company of 
of Boston Massachusetts Bay in New England, with very 
Hberal provisions for the colonists to govern themselves. 
This new company practically took the place of the old com- 
pany, and under its protection many Puritans of wealth and 
prominence, and even whole congregations, came over to New 
England. In 1630 more than one thousand came over under 
the leadership of John Winthrop and settled at Boston, which 
afterwards became the capital of the colony, and a great city. 



Early Colonies in the New World 79 



Other towns were soon established as people came over, 
and in ten years as many as twenty thousand people had left 
England to find homes in what is now the State of Massa- 
chusetts. 

Governor John Winthrop, who was the leader of the Boston 
settlement, was as remarkable a man in his way, as Was Cap- 
tain John Smith of Virginia, or 
Captain Miles Standish of 
Plymouth. He was brave, self- 
reliant, and very religious and 
severe in his notions. 

There was no time for play in 

a young colony, and, besides, 

the Puritans were 

Puritan life ^ . 

a severe people who 
did not beheve much in play. 
Nobody was allowed to dance, 
or attend any kind of entertain- 
ment. The women were not 
allowed to wear ribbons, nor 
dresses of fine cloth. The gov- 
ernor himself wore the plainest 
clothes and Hved in the simplest 
way. Everybody had to go 
to bed early. The governor 
ordered all fights out by nine 

o'clock, but you may be sure he had everybody up by day- 
break, and as soon as the sun rose the town was busy at work. 
Roger Among the men who left the first settlement 

Williams ^q found Others was Roger Williams, who had 

come over to Salem in 1631 as a preacher. He was a Puri- 
tan and had left England on account of the persecution. 




The Puritans March in a Body to 
Church, Armed for Protection 
against the Savages 



8o 



American History 




Settlements in the New England Colonies 



Early Colonies in the New World 8i 



Roger Williams had even severer views on the subject of 
rehgion than the other Puritans. He preached very boldly 
that all laws that bound a man's conscience were unjust ; that 
a man should not be punished for staying away from church ; 
that the king had no right to give away the lands of the In- 
dians ; and preached other doctrines that the Puritans gen- 
erally did not believe in. 

The people of Salem decided that Williams was too bold 
a preacher, and so they ordered him to go back to England. 
He refused to go, and 
kept on preaching. 
Soldiers were sent to 
his house to arrest him, 
but he escaped before 
they arrived, and fled 
into the forests to the 
villages of his Indian 
friends. He had al- 
ready learned their 
language, had slept in 
their tents, and knew 
their ways. 

With five friends, 
WilUams sought for a place to found a colony of his own. 
He at last settled at Providence (1636). He made friends 
with the Indians and bought a large tract of land from them. 
His earnest pleading kept the terrible Narragansetts friendly 
to all the white colonists. Other friends soon joined his 
colony, and a prosperous community was started. 

Another member of the Puritan church in Boston was 
Mrs. Anne Hutchinson. She declared that the preachers 
did not preach sound doctrine. The preachers replied that 




Roger Williams, Having Settled at Provi- 
dence, Welcomes Anne Hutchinson to His 
Colony 



82 American History 

a woman had no business mixing in public affairs, and should 
not hold meetings in her own house to discuss rehgious 
Mrs. Anne matters. The preachers then banished her from 
Hutchinson Boston. 

With a few friends she went to Providence, where Roger 
Williams was, and by his advice and help bought some land 
from Canonicus, the Indian chief. The first settlement was 
called Portsmouth, and the second was called Newport. 
After a while the towns of Providence, Portsmouth, and New- 
port were united under one government, and were called 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. These settle- 
ments were the beginning of the present State of Rhode 
Island. 

There was a rule among the Puritans at Boston that only 
church members should vote in the affairs of government. 
Thomas Thomas Hooker, although a pastor of a churchy 

Hooker thought that everybody should have a voice in 

public affairs whether he was a member of a church or not. 
Governor Winthrop would not listen to such an idea. Then 
Hooker decided to found a town of his own, where every man 
could have a voice in its management. 

A few months after Roger Williams had been driven out 
of Salem, Hooker gathered a large body of people who thought 
as he did, and started on a journey toward the Connecticut 
River. The congregation traveled slowly, taking their chil- 
dren, goods, and cattle with them. They lived as best they 
could during their long march, on the food they brought, and 
on the milk of the cows. 

They settled at Hartford on the Connecticut River in 
Connecticut 1 63 6. They drew up a body of laws for the gov- 
founded, 1636 ernment of the town, and for other towns which 
were established later. In this manner the colony of Con- 



Early Colonies in the New World 83 

necticut began, under a written constitution, in which every- 
body had a voice and a vote in the government. This was 
the first time in the history of the world that a colony was 
thus begun. 

TOPICS 

The Spaniards Settle Florida. The power of Spain ; the motives of 
her explorers. First Spanish settlementsr and adventurers. Ponce de 
Leon, and the search for the fountain of youth. Discovery and naming 
of Florida. Wanderings and fate of De Leon. Cortez and the conquest 
of Mexico. Landing of De Soto. His travels ; treatment of the Indians ; 
discovery of the Mississippi ; death and burial. Wanderings of Coro- 
nado. Spanish settlements. 

The French Settle Canada. Spanish wars. Rise of France and 
England. Francis I. Verrazano. Cartier. Champlain. Quebec 
founded. Explorations of Champlain. Hardships at Quebec. Trouble 
.with the Iroquois. The growth of England. Rise of London. Queen 
Elizabeth. Plundering the Spaniards. The Spanish Armada; its 
movements ; its destruction ; the result. 

The English Settle Virginia. Sir Walter Raleigh. Exploring and 
naming Virginia. First settlement at Roanoke. How the colony be- 
haved and how it was saved. Corn ; the potato ; tobacco. The second 
colony. Virginia Dare. The lost colony. Trading with the Old World. 
Forming companies. Sailing for America. Arrival in America. Nam- 
ing the river and the colony. Hardships of the colonists. Sufferings 
and discouragement. 

The Progress of Jamestown. Influence of John Smith ; his charac- 
ter; some of his adventures. Pocahontas saves his life. Pocahontas. 
The " Starving Time." Arrival of Gates. How the colony was saved. 
Prosperity. Tobacco growing. Wives for the colonists. 

Afifairs in Virginia. Discontent. Dale's laws. Provisions of the new 
charter. First Assembly. Prosperity of the colony. Introduction of 
slaves. Death of Powhatan. Indian plots and massacre. Saving 
Jamestown. 

The Pilgrims in New England. Naming New England. James I 
and his religion. The Puritans; Separatists. The Pilgrims; life in 
Holland. Coming to America ; the Mayflower. The signed agreement. 



84 American History 

Landing of the Pilgrims. Sufferings. Samoset and Squanto. Challenge 
of Canonicus; Bradford's answer. Miles Standish; his appearance; 
his orders. The first Thanksgiving. 

The Puritans in New England. The Puritans; Nonconformists. 
John Endicott's colony ; Salem ; Charlestown. The new company ; 
settlement of Boston. John Winthrop. Puritan life in New England. 
Roger Williams ; his doctrines ; his conflict with the people of Salem. 
Founding Providence. Mrs. Anne Hutchinson. Portsmouth. New- 
port. Rhode Island. Thomas Hooker. The journey to the Connecti- 
cut River. Founding of Hartford. 

SUBJECTS FOR STUDY 

Compare the methods of the Spaniards, the French, and the English 
in exploring the New World. What was the influence of the destruction 
of the Armada upon the history of America ? Why did the Jamestown 
colony have such a struggle for existence ? Compare the motives of the 
New England colonists with the motives of other colonists in America. 
What influence did the original colonists have upon the present character 
of the New England people? 

COMPOSITION 

Write a letter from one of the first settlers at Jamestown, describing 
the hardships of the first few years. 

Write a description of the voyage of the Pilgrims and their landing. 
Describe the life of the Puritans in Boston. 

MAP QUESTIONS 

Locate Montreal ; Quebec. Locate Jamestown. Find the first an- 
chorage of the Mayflower. Locate Plymouth. How far is Boston from 
Plymouth? Locate Providence ; Newport. 

Collateral Reading. " The Landing of the Pilgrims," by Mrs. 
Hemans. " The Courtship of Miles Standish," by Longfellow. 



Chapter IV 

LATER COLONIES IN THE NEW WORLD 

1. THE DUTCH SETTLE NEW YORK 

The people of the Netherlands had been engaged in a long 
and terrible war with Spain, in order to gain rehgious and 
political freedom from that country, which at this time held 
the Dutch colonies as subjects. The war lasted many years 
and was attended with great suffering and cruelty. This 
war was going on when the Spanish Armada prepared to invade 
England. 

The destruction of the Armada marked the decline of the 
power of Spain, and the rise of England, and in a few years the 
Netherlands had thrown off the yoke of Spain and The rise of 
become independent. The Dutch now turned *^® ^^ich 
their attention to the seas and became practically the only 
rivals of England in the commerce of the world. Their 
navigators were full of daring and adventure. Their sea 
captains traded with the Far East and introduced tea and 
coffee into Europe. They sailed around South America and 
gave Cape Horn its name. They discovered Austraha, New 
Zealand, and Tasmania. They were now ready to turn their 
attention to North America, to find a way through the conti- 
nent to China, or to found colonies in the new land. 

In 1609, two years after Jamestown was settled, and eleven 
years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Henry 
Henry Hudson, an Englishman, sailed across the Hudson 
Atlantic Ocean in a ship called the Half Moon, under a Dutch 

8s 



86 



American History 




Historic Waterways 

river he had discovered, 
Dutch claims as the Hudson 
and reported to the Dutch 



flag, and in the service of the 
Dutch East India Company. 
Whatever land Hudson dis- 
covered would belong, of course, 
to the Dutch. 

In the month of September, 
after a five months' voyage, 
Captain Hudson came Enters New 
in sight of the hills York Bay 
that mark the coast around New 
York. Sailing into what we now 
call Sandy Hook, he anchored at 
the entrance of New York Bay, 
and saw before him a broad en- 
trance, which he hoped might 
lead through the continent and 
into China. 

With the broad river before 
him he sailed boldly forward, 
passing the site of West Point, 
and the great Catskill Moun- 
tains, and going as far as the 
present city of Albany. Here 
the ship could go no farther. 
Hudson saw that he had no 
prospect of reaching China that 
way, so he turned the Half 
Moon downstream. 

Hudson then sailed out of the 
which ever since has been known 
River. He sailed back to Holland, 
what he had done and seen. They 



Later Colonies in the New World 



87 



at once laid claim to all the lands on both sides of the river, 
by right of discovery and exploration. 

The Dutch laid claim to all the lands in America that 
Henry Hudson had visited while sailing under the Dutch flag. 
They sent out ships to trade with the Indians, and estabhshed 




Henry Hudson in 1609 Sails up the Hudson River under a Dutch Flag and 
Claims All the Territory of New York for the Dutch 



trading posts along the Hudson River and on Manhattan 
Island. They bought valuable furs from the Indians in 
exchange for cheap toys, beads, and other articles. 

In 1 614 a few cabins were built on Manhattan Island, and 
a httle town was started with a fort to protect it. The place 
was named New Amsterdam, after the town of Amsterdam 



88 American History 

in Holland. Afterwards the whole island was bought from 
the Indians for a few trinkets and other small articles worth 
New about twenty-four dollars. The Indians had no 

Amsterdam j^jgg^ of values, and would sell the white men the 
richest lands or the finest furs for cheap jewelry and gaudy 
ornaments. 

The Dutch merchants formed the Dutch West India Com- 
pany and obtained a charter to trade in the territory from 
New the Delaware to the Connecticut River. They 

Netherlands called all this land New Netherlands. Thus we 
see that there were a New England, a New France, and a New 
Netherlands in America, all at one time. New England 
is the only one of the three names that has survived. 

The Dutch settlements grew slowly. Fort Orange was 
built on the site of the present city of Albany. The few 
scattered hamlets around the mouth of the river were mere 
trading posts. After fifteen years New Amsterdam had only 
three hundred people. 

The Dutch Company now offered to every man who would 
bring over a colony of fifty persons a tract of land sixteen 
miles along the river, over which he could be the absolute 
ruler and lord, provided he paid the Indians for it. This was 
easily done, and some of these lords, or patroons as they 
were called, played an important part in the history of the 
colony. 

The Dutch sent over several governors to New Nether- 
lands, but Peter Stuyvesant was the most noted of them all. 
Peter He had been a soldier, and while fighting bravely 

stuyvesant ]^^^ jQg^ g^ jgg Ever afterwards he wore a wooden 
leg. Because it was bound with silver bands he was called 
''Old Silver Leg." He was cross and peevish and sometimes 
would get terribly angry when things did not go to suit him. 



Later Colonies in the New World 



89 



Still, he ruled justly, and the people respected him. He 
forbade the merchants selling whisky to the Indians, he 
established good schools for the children, and he made every- 
body go to church, though each one was allowed to go to any 
church he chose. 

The Dutch lived differ- 
ently from the English in 
Dutch life New England, 
and customs jhey had odd- 
looking houses, with curi- 
ous gables, and a stoop, or 
porch, in front. Inside, the 
stoKd, fat Dutch merchants 
sat and smoked their pipes 
in comfort. The women 
were excellent housekeep- 
ers. They kept every- 
thing clean and orderly, the 
floors covered with white 
sand, and the tiles poHshed 
as bright as could be. The 
Dutch housewives became 
noted for their thrift. 

The men wore baggy knee-breeches and long stockings, with 
silver buckles at the knee and on their shoes. They wore 
curious high hats, and often a braid of hair hanging from the 
back of the head. Many of the families of New York trace 
their ancestry back to the good old Dutch colonists of New 
Amsterdam, and many streets, villages, and mountains there 
still bear the names first given them by the Dutqh settlers. 

England, however, had her eyes on the Dutch settlements, 
and the growth of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island 




The Dutch Patroons Lived in Ease and 

COMEORT 



90 



American History 



did not please the king. England claimed all the land that 
the Dutch had occupied, on the ground that it was part of 
English take ^^^ territory discovered by Cabot, and that 
possession of Henry Hudson was an EngHshman, even if he 

New York ^^ ^^-^ ^^^^^ ^^^ j^^^^^ ^^^ 

The real reason for asserting this claim was that the Dutch 
were trading too freely with the EngHsh colonies to suit the 

Enghsh merchants. They 
carried great quantities of 
tobacco, furs, and other 
American products to Hol- 
land that the English 
thought should go to Eng- 
land. In addition to this, 
the Dutch colonies in Amer- 
ica separated the New Eng- 
land colonies from the other 
Enghsh colonies in America. 
Therefore Charles II, king 
of England, thought it was 
about time to put a stop 
to Dutch colonization in 
the territory claimed by 
England. 

In 1664 Charles II gave 
the land occupied by the 
Dutch in America to his 
brother, the Duke of York, ignoring the claims of the Dutch 
occupants. A fleet of EngHsh ships appeared off Manhattan 
Island. The Dutch were ordered to surrender their town. 
Governor Stuyvesant was in a great rage. He tore up the 
demand for surrender, and called upon the people to drive 




OCEAN 



New Netherland 



Later Colonies in the New World 



91 



the English away. But it happened that the Dutch had 
grown tired of Stuyvesant's rule and more especially of the 
tyranny of the ^'patroons/' or proprietors. So they forced 
Governor Stuyvesant to yield to the demands of the English. 
It mattered but httle to the Dutch in New Amsterdam 
whether they Uved under the 
Dutch flag or the EngHsh flag. 
At any rate, they saw the use- 
lessness of contending with the 
greater strength of the English 
fleet at their doors. 

The name New Amsterdam 
was now changed to New York 

New Amster- i^ honor of the 
dam becomes Duke of York, who 
New York i . r 

later became 
James II, king of England. 
The village contained only 
fifteen hundred people at the 
time, but it has since grown 
into one of the greatest cities 
of the world. All the Dutch 
claims in America were ceded 
to the EngHsh, though the 
Dutch colonists still remained as good citizens and subjects 
of the king of England. 

Even old Peter Stuyvesant did not return to Holland. 
He had a farm on Manhattan Island called the Bowery. 
Here he spent his last days in peace and comfort, honored and 
respected, dying at the age of eighty years. 




Stuyvesant in a Rage Appeals to 
THE People not to Surrender 
Their Town 



92 American History 

2. THE FOUNDING OF MARYLAND 

We hav.e now to see how another sort of colony was estab- 
lished in America, and for the same reason that the Plymouth 
Colony was settled. This time, however, it was for the 
Roman Catholics, who had no civil rights at all by the laws of 
England. If a man were a Roman CathoHc he could not 
hold ofhce or take any part in the government. In many 
other ways the Roman CathoHcs were persecuted, and made 
to suffer for their reHgious faith. 

There lived in England a good CathoUc named George 
Calvert, who was a friend of the king, Charles I. He had 
Lord been made a lord, with the title of Lord Baltimore. 

Baltimore jjg wanted to find a place in America where he 
could found a Catholic colony, and where the persecuted 
members of that church could worship without hindrance. 

The king readily granted to Lord Baltimore a portion of 
land north of the Potomac River. This was easily done 
since the grant cost him nothing, and he had to ask nobody's 
consent. The land was named Maryland in compliment to 
the wife of the king, whose name was Henrietta Maria, and 
who herself was a Catholic. 

Whereas other colonies had been ruled by a company, 
this colony was to be governed entirely by Lord Baltimore, 
Government who was Called the ''Lord Proprietor." It was in 
of Maryland ^];^s ^^y i^^^ Maryland, and several other colo- 
nies afterwards established, differed from the colonies ruled 
by charters, or by governors appointed by the king. 

Lord Baltimore was almost a king in the powers granted 
him. He had to pay a yearly rent of two arrowheads to 
the Crown of England, together with a fifth part of all 
the gold and silver he found in Maryland, but as he never 



Later Colonies in the New World 



93 



found any, this part of the contract did not amount to 
anything. 

Lord Baltimore had the right to coin money, create courts, 
appoint judges, pardon criminals, and call together an as- 
sembly of the people to make laws. The laws did rj,^^ powers 
not have to be sent to England for the king to of Lord 
approve, but were to be approved by Lord Balti- ^ t^^o^e 
more himself. Finally, Lord Baltimore's sons in line were 
to be his heirs as lords of the colony. This was quite differ- 
ent from the other 
colonies in America, 
but King Charles 
granted all this to his 
favorite friend. 

The good George 
Calvert did not Hve to 
found his colony, and 
his son Cecil Calvert, 
who is called the 
second Lord Baltimore, 
took up the work his father began. Two vessels, called the 
Dove and the Ark, set sail for America carrying two hundred 
colonists. 

Not all of these were Catholics, for a few Protestants had 
joined the enterprise, since Lord Baltimore had resolved 
that all kinds of religion should be tolerated. The Founding the 
Cathohcs had been persecuted in England, but in colony 
America they would not themselves turn persecutors. Cecil 
Calvert did not come himself, but sent his brother Leonard 
Calvert, to whom is really due the credit of founding the 
colony of Maryland. The colonists landed in 1634, and 
founded the colony of St. Mary's. 




Maryland according to the Original Charter 



94 American History 

Trade opened at once with the Indians. Land was secured 
for the town, in exchange for clothes, axes, hatchets, knives, 
and other articles the Indians liked. The savages were 
friendly, invited the colonists to spend a while in their 
wigwams, and showed them how to plant corn and make 
bread. 

This colony was spared many of the hardships that other 
colonies suffered. Tobacco was planted on the rich lands, 
negro slaves were purchased to work on the farms, many 
Protestants joined the colony, and under the wise rule of the 
Calverts Maryland prospered year after year. 

The people of Virginia, on the other hand, were not at all 
pleased to see so prosperous a rival colony near them. One 
Trouble with Virginian, named Claiborne, who lived on Kent 
Virginia Island in Chesapeake Bay, attacked the Mary- 

landers with an armed force. He was defeated, however, 
and driven from the island. 

Later, when a number of Puritans had come to Maryland 
and tried to overthrow the CathoKc government, Claiborne 
tried with their assistance to invade Maryland again. Once 
more he was driven away. He tried a third time, and suc- 
ceeded in defeating the Marylanders in a battle fought near 
the site of the city of Annapolis. 

The cause of the Calverts was carried to England, and 
after a patient hearing there it was decided that Lord Balti- 
The Calverts "^0^6 and his descendants had a right to the soil 
defend their of Maryland, and the Virginians were ordered 
""^"^^^ not to molest them. After this the Maryland 

colony had no further trouble. 

With varying fortunes the colonies in Maryland grew. 
After fifty or sixty years, laws were enacted against the 
Catholics, and the rule of the Calverts was brought to a close. 



Later Colonies in the New World 



95 



Then, for more than twenty years the colony was ruled by 
governors sent over from England. 

At length the fourth Lord Baltimore turned Protestant, 
and the proprietorship was restored to him. This was not 
again disturbed until the colonies rebelled against England 
and a new government began for them all. 

3. THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW JERSEY AND DELAWARE 

You will remember that the territory of New York was 
captured by the English. It was then given to the Duke of 




Governor Carterlt Aiu<i\ib \i Lliz \llihio\vn 



York, the brother of the king of England. The land com- 
prised in this territory extended toward the south, covering 
the present States of New Jersey and Delaware. 

The Duke of York had two friends in England named Lord 
Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. Between these two 
noblemen he divided a portion of the southern ^^^^ jersey 
part of the territory captured from the Dutch, and West 
and named the territory New Jersey, in honor of J®^^®^ 
the Isle of Jersey which was the English home of Sir George 
Carteret. The whole territory was later divided into two 



96 



American History 



parts, one being known as West Jersey, the other as East 
Jersey. 

There were already settlements along the coast and a 
few towns in this territory, the people buying land from the 
Indians and considering themselves as belonging to New 
York. 

In 1665 Philip Carteret, the deputy governor, landed with 
thirty followers. He marched into one of the villages with 
Elizabeth- a hoe on his shoulder, followed by the people from 
^^^ the ship, much to the surprise of the villagers. 

He then announced himself as governor, and named the place 
Elizabethtown in honor of the wife of Sir George Carteret. 

This may be considered the 
beginning of the State of 
New Jersey. 

Afterwards Lord Berkeley 
sold West Jersey, and the 
heirs of George Carteret sold 
East Jersey to a body of 
Quakers. William Penn, who 
became famous in Pennsyl- 
vania, was one of those who 
purchased George Carteret's 
share. 

Settlers came promptly to 
this rich territory. A num- 
ber of towns were built. 
Crops of wheat, berries, and 
peaches were found to be valuable ; wild turkey, deer, and fish 
suppHed the tables with meat. The two colonies grew rapidly 
and prospered. 

After a while the new owners of East Jersey and West 




•The Jerseys 



Later Colonies in the New World 97 

Jersey, who were called the proprietors, grew tired of their 
charge and gave up their rights of jurisdiction in 1702. The 
two Jerseys were then united and called New Jersey, and gov- 
ernors were appointed directly by the Crown. 

Let us now see how Delaware was also made out of some 
of the territory that had been acquired from the Dutch. 

Peter Minuit, who had been governor in New Netherlands, 
entered the service of Sweden, and was engaged to bring 
over a body of Swedes to America and find them Beginnings 
a place to live. In 1638 he brought them over of Delaware 
and settled at a place he named Christina, in honor of the 
young queen of Sweden. 

When Stuyvesant became governor of New Amsterdam, 
as New York was first called, he came down the coast with 
a big force of men, captured the Swedish fort, took the officers 
off to New Amsterdam, and made all the Swedes swear fidelity 
to Holland. This broke up the Swedish colony, and the 
Dutch remained in possession of the territory. 

When the Dutch in turn gave up their possessions to the 
Enghsh, the Duke of York claimed this territory along with 
all the other lands held by the Dutch. WilHam Penn ob- 
tained from the Duke a grant of lands covering most of the 
State of Delaware. The territory granted to Penn was called 
''The Three Lower Counties of the Delaware." 

The people living in these counties, who were Swedes, 
Dutch, and a few English from Massachusetts, came under 
the government of Pennsylvania, and remained so until the 
Revolution. This is the early history of the State of Dela- 
ware. 



98 



American History 



4. THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA 

We now come to tell the story of still another sort of people 
who suffered for conscience' sake and who came to America 
to find a place of refuge. These belonged to the Society of 
Friends, or Quakers as they are better known. 




Quakers 

OP PEMIHSYLVAMIA 



In America Every Man Was Free to Worship in His Own Way 



The Quakers went even further than the Puritans in the 
simplicity of their faith and hfe. They lived on the simplest 
food, and dressed in the plainest clothes. They would give 
no man a title, but always called him by his name. They 
said ''thee" and "thou" to each other instead of "you." 
They kept on their hats no matter where they were, even in 
Customs of the king's presence. They would not go to law 
the Quakers about anything, and did not beheve in war. They 
were a people of peace, and never returned a blow or used 
an oath. They beHeved in equality and brotherly love, 
and called everybody "Friend." 



Later Colonies in the New World 



99 



The Quakers were very unpopular in England. They 
were hooted at by the people, who made all kinds of sport 
of their somber brown dress, broad-brimmed hats, and simple 
ways. The Quakers were forbidden by law to hold a meet- 
ing within five miles of any town. They were indeed a per- 
secuted and despised sect. 

Among their number was a young man named WilHam 
Penn, who belonged to a distinguished family. His father 
was an admiral in the navy and a great friend of wuiiam 
Charles II, the king of England. When he died ^®*^ 
he left his son an estate of £16,000, which was in the form of 
a debt owed by the king. 

The king did not have the money, and was glad enough 
to give Penn a large tract of land west of the Dela- Pennsylvania 
ware River in payment of the debt. The grant slanted 
covered 40,000 square miles. By the signing of the king's 
name Penn became one of the largest land owners of the 
world. It was a vast and princely domain. Penn wished 
it to be named Sylvania, which means " Woodland." The 
king agreed to this, but quietly wrote the word Penn before 
it, saying, ''It shall be called Pennsylvania, in honor of 
the admiral, your father." 

Three vessels were sent out by Penn from England in 
1681, but one of them was frozen hard in the Delaware River. 
Penn himself sailed one year later with about one hundred 
colonists, and landed on the shores of Pennsylvania. 

He sent word to the Delaware Indians to meet him for the 
purpose of forming a treaty of friendship. The Indians 
gladly came, and on the day appointed great 
crowds of warriors, with their wives and children, 
assembled to Ksten to Penn. Presents were distributed and 
a price for the lands was agreed upon. 



lOO 



American History 



The Indians promised to live in peace with the whites. 
Their chief shook hands with the great leader of the Quakers, 
and a treaty of friendship was made that lasted for many 
years. The Indians and the Quakers hunted and fished 







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William Penn Meets the Delaware Indians and Makes a Treaty of Peace 



together, their children played together, and each went 
safely in and out of the villages and homes of the other. 
Philadelphia was laid out in 1683. Its name means 
"Brotherly Love." In two years it had six hun- 
dred houses, and at one time was a larger city 
than New York. 



Philadelphia 



Later Colonies in the NeW World loi 

Penn himself was only thirty-seven years old when he 
came to America. After a while, he went back to England, 
where misfortune overtook him. He was often imprisoned, 
and was once accused of being a traitor. This accusation 
was not true, and at last he was allowed to live in peace. 
He was one of the most upright of men, temperate in all things, 
pure in thought, language, and speech, and just in his dealings 
with his fellow men. 

The colony of Pennsylvania grew and prospered. At last 
it became necessary to settle the boundary line on the south. 
Boundaries were then very uncertain. In 1767, Mason and 
long after Penn had died, the dividing line was ^"con's Line 
run by two surveyors named Mason and Dixon. Every mile 
was marked by a stone. This line became the boundary 
between Pennsylvania and Maryland, and is often spoken 
of as '' Mason and Dixon's Line." Later on it became famous 
as a dividing line between the states of the North, where there 
were no slaves, and the states of the South, where negroes 
were still held in slavery. 

5. THE SETTLEMENT OF THE CAROLINAS 

By this time the English colonies had gradually spread 
out over the country, from New Hampshire to Virginia, 
and some of the present states were beginning to take shape 
and name. We must not forget that the French were holding 
the territory along the St. Lawrence River and that the 
Spaniards were still in Florida. 

Between Virginia and Florida there was a large tract of 
land that England still claimed, to which few settlers had 
as yet gone. New England and the Middle Colonies were 
growing fast, but the vast regions in the South were hardly 
touched. 



I02 



American History 



The king of England, Charles II, who had been restored to 
the throne which his father had lost in the Civil War in 
England, desired to reward his friends for their loyalty to 
The territory his cause. He selected eight of his friends, among 
granted ^hem the Duke of Albemarle and the Earl of 

Clarendon, and gave them, in 1663, all the land between 
Virginia and Florida. This was indeed a great gift, and out 




Map Showing European Claims in America about 1660 

of it three great States have been made, but at that time it 
was called Carolina in honor of Charles II and of his father 
Charles I. 

Among the first settlers in this territory we find many of 
the Virginians, eager for the wild life of the frontier, looking 
for fertile farms, and seeking adventures in the deep 
forests. They came across the border and settled 
upon land that is now in the State of North Carolina. 

They put up rude huts along the river banks, cleared a few 
acres, bought a slave or two, planted tobacco, hunted and 



The settlers 



Later Colonies in the New World 103 

fished, and lived the free life of the early pioneer. Among 
these were some Quakers who had drifted down from Penn- 
sylvania, and who were hurried along by the more warlike 
Virginians. These settlers came into this territory from time 
to time before it was separated into a distinct colony. 
• In order to provide laws for this country, a famous phi- 
losopher named John Locke was asked to draw up a model 
system of government. Although Locke's sys- 
tem was called the ''Grand Model," it was a M^dei 
fooHsh plan of having lords, earls, and barons 
to own the land, while the people were to be mere tenants and 
dependents. 

The people who came to Carolina were too free in their 
ideas to be under such a system. Men who Hve in log houses, 
fight Indians, and brave the dangers of a wilderness, are not 
willing to be the tenants or dependents of anybody. So the 
Grand Model was a failure, and after twenty years' trial it 
was abandoned. 

At first there was no purpose to make two colonies ; but 
it so happened that the first colonies were planted far apart. 
Some colonists settled along Albemarle Sound Carolina 
and near the Virginia fine. Other colonists divided 
settled farther south, near the present city of Charleston. 
This made much trouble in appointing the governors, so that 
sometimes there was one governor and sometimes there were 
two. 

The Lords Proprietors, as the owners in England were 
called, did not care anything for the colonies except to get as 
much money out of them as possible. Their rule was very 
unpopular with the colonists. After more than fifty years 
had passed, and Carolina had become well settled and estab- 
Ushed, these proprietors turned over their government to the 



I04 American History 

Crown. The two Carolinas ,were then divided into North 
Carohna and South CaroHna, and each became a separate 
royal province. This was in 1729. 

The settlements along Albemarle Sound were organized 

into the county of Albemarle. Other settlements along the 

Cape Fear River were organized into the county 

2jj^^ of Clarendon. These two counties were united 

under one government and called North Carolina. 

The people were allowed in the main to manage their 
own affairs. They were dissatisfied at first because they 
were not allowed to own their farms as the people of Vir- 
ginia did, but as soon as the ownership of farms was permitted, 
peace was restored. 

In the territory of North Carolina there lived at one time 

a tribe of Indians called the Tuscaroras. They did not like 

to see the white men settling on their huntinsr 

Trouble with . . ° ° 

theTuscaro- grounds and fishing in fheir rivers. One day a 
ras, 1 71 1- party of savages captured John Lawson, who 
was the surveyor-general of the colony, and burned 
him to death. The savages then attacked the farms and killed 
many families who were not near the villages. This brought 
on a dreadful war which lasted two years. The Tuscaroras 
were completely defeated and driven out of the colony. 

The homes of the people of North Carolina were generally 
on large farms, and far apart. There were no good roads as 
The life of we have nowadays, and travelers found their way 
the people through the forest by following marks on the trees. 
The people raised tobacco mainly, which was floated down 
the streams on small rafts to ships that lay in the harbors. 
Cattle were raised in the rich bottomlands. 

From the great pine forests the settlers obtained tar, pitch, 
and turpentine, which were put into barrels, floated on rafts 



Lateft- Colonies in the New World 105 



to the harbors, and sent to England. From the beginning of 
the colony, tobacco and the products of the pine forests have 
been among the chief sources of wealth of the people. The 
colony grew so rapidly that by the time of the Revolution 
it was the fourth in size among the thirteen colonies that 
rebelled against England. 

The first settlers on the territory of South Carolina were 
people who came over from England in 1670 and started a 
town on the Ashley River. They named their south 
settlement Charles town, or Charleston as it is now Carolina 
called, in honor of Charles II, king of England. A few years 
after the landing, 
the town was 
moved to a place 
between the Ash- 
ley and Cooper 
rivers. 

The fact that 
everybody was 
given freedom in 
the matter of religion encouraged many settlers. Englishmen 
came from the islands owned by England in the West Indies ; 
Dutchmen came down from New York when that colony 
passed into the hands of the English ; and many colonists 
came over from the mother country. 

A large number of Huguenots, who were Protestants 
persecuted in France for their rehgion, came over and settled 
in America. 

Many of them were of the best people in France, well 
educated and good citizens. A company of these Huguenots 
came to South Carolina, and from them have descended 
some of the best famihes in that State. 




Exploring the Coast of the Carolinas 



io6 American History 

One of the trading vessels brought to Charleston some 
grains of rice from the island of Madagascar. These were 
Cultivation planted by the colonists on the rich lowlands along 
of rice i]^q coast. The climate and soil proved to be so 

well adapted to rice that in a short time its culture became one 
of the main occupations of the people, and has remained 
so ever since. 

In order to cultivate the rice, negro slaves were brought 
into the colony. This labor proved as well adapted to rice 
as rice had proved adapted to the soil. 

The planters of South CaroHna soon became people of 
wealth. Many of them had handsome homes in Charleston, 
which for a long time was the only city. The plantations 
were worked by negro slaves, who were comfortably cared for 
and well treated by their masters and overseers. 

6. THE SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA 

Between South CaroHna and the Spanish settlements 
in Florida there still remained a large tract of country unoc- 
cupied by either the EngHsh or the Spaniards, and yet claimed 
by both nations. We are now to see how this territory was 
settled by the English and became the last of the colonies 
that composed the original thirteen States. 

Many of the laws of England at this time were hard and 
oppressive. One of these laws allowed a creditor to put a 
debtor in prison if he could not pay his debts. Nowadays no 
one thinks of trying to imprison a poor man who owes money 
he cannot pay, but in those days the prisons of England 
were full of unfortunate debtors. 

There was an English philanthropist by the name of James 
Oglethorpe who became greatly interested in these poor 



Later Colonies in the New World 



107 



people. He resolved to ask the king for a grant of land in 
America, between Florida and South Carolina, where he would 
found a colony on the land claimed by the Eng- ^ , , 

-^ JO Oglethorpe 

lish for poor and worthy people to find work and 
homes. The grant of land was secured, and the new colony 
was named Georgia in honor of George II, who was then king 
of England. 




Map of the Original Territory of Georgia 



Oglethorpe decided to go to America himself with the 
colonists. He set about getting his emigrants, selecting 
them carefully from the great number that ap- savannah 
pHed. He finally set sail from England with founded, 1733 
thirty-five famiHes. In February, 1773, they sailed up the 
Savannah River, and founded the town of Savannah, eighteen 
miles from the mouth of the river. 

The colonists at once set to work cutting down trees, 
building cabins, and laying out the streets of their town. 
Oglethorpe pitched a tent under a tree, where he lived for a 



To8 



American History 



year, helping the colonists to estabUsh their homes and 
build their town. 

As soon as the colonists landed, Oglethorpe made a treaty 
of peace and friendship with the Indians. The old Indian 
chief, Tomochichi, gave him a buffalo skin with 
the head and feathers of an eagle painted on it, 
saying: ''The eagle means speed, and the buffalo means 
strength. The feathers are soft and mean love. The skin 
is warm and means protection. Therefore love and protect 



Tomochichi 





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The Indians Present Oglethorpe with a Buffalo Robe in Token of a Treaty 

OF Peace 



our little families." This treaty was faithfully kept by the 
whites and Indians for many years. 

Ships soon arrived bringing over new colonists. A body 
of German Protestants, called Salzburghers, were given a 
place on the Savannah River for their town, which 
they named Ebenezer. Jews also came to Sa- 
vannah and were given a home in the new colony. Later 
on a body of Scotch Highlanders settled in Georgia. Georgia 
thus opened her doors to all good people from everywhere, 
and the oppressed of all lands were welcome. 



The colonists 



Later Colonies in the New World 109 

Among those who came over to Georgia were John and 
Charles Wesley and George Whitefield, three great preachers. 
John Wesley came to preach to the colonists and to the 
Indians. George Whitefield founded a noted Orphan Asylum 
near Savannah. 

In the course of four years over a thousand persons came 
into Georgia, and nearly sixty thousand acres of land were 
granted to settlers for farms. Five towns were Progress of 
built, including the present city of Augusta. Georgia 
Forts had been erected along the principal rivers and on the 
coast, and treaties had been made with the Indians. 

The Spaniards in Florida by no means relished the idea of 
an English settlement in Georgia. They claimed the land 
and still called it Florida. The king of Spain sent word to 
the king of England to allow no more forts to be built, and 
to send no more colonists to Georgia. When the message 
was read in the King's Council, one of the members remarked, 
''This message should be answered by a fleet of battleships 
on the coast of Spain." 

Oglethorpe did not wait for the Spaniards to attack Savannah, 
but raised an army and proceeded to attack them in St. Augus- 
tine. He besieged the town, but could not capture it. He 
then withdrew his men and went back to Savannah. The 
Spaniards returned his visit with a large body of soldiers (1742). 

Oglethorpe went down the coast to meet the invaders, 
and a bloody battle occurred on St. Simon's Island, in which 
the Spaniards were defeated, though they greatly The Spanish 
outnumbered the EngHsh. Oglethorpe laid a invasion 
trap for the Spaniards by sending a letter into their camp 
by one of his prisoners, addressed to a deserter, telKng him 
to keep the Spaniards in Georgia as long as he could and to 
deceive them as to the size of his army. 



1 1 o American History 

The letter went straight to the Spanish commander, who 
hastened to pack up his forces and leave Georgia as quickly 
as he could. Oglethorpe had only seven hundred men. The 
Spaniards * had five thousand. This ended the Spanish 
invasion of Georgia. 

After the colony was well estabhshed, Oglethorpe went 
back to England. He hved to be ninety-six years of age, 
Last days of loved and honored by all who knew him. He 
Oglethorpe Hved to sce Georgia an independent State. When 
the war of the Revolution occurred he was offered command 
of all the Enghsh forces sent to subdue the . colonies, but he 
refused, saying he knew the Americans well; that "they 
never would be subdued by force, but that obedience would 
be secured by doing them justice." 

TOPICS 

The Dutch Settle New York. The war between Spain and the Nether- 
lands. The rise of the Netherlands. The Dutch navigators. Henry 
Hudson; enters New York Bay ; explores the Hudson River. The claims 
of the Dutch. Trading with the Indians. New Amsterdam. The 
territory of New Netherlands. The Dutch patroons. Peter Stuyve- 
sant ; his character. Life in New Amsterdam. Customs of the Dutch. 
England claims the Dutch lands ; the reasons. The demands of the 
English. Rage of Stuyvesant. New Amsterdam becomes New York. 

The Founding of Maryland. Roman Cathohcs in England. Lord 
Baltimore. Granting and naming of Maryland. The government of 
Maryland. Powers of Lord Baltimore. CecU Calvert and his colonists. 
Founding of St. Mary's. Trade with the Indians. Prosperity of the 
colony. Trouble with the Virginians. The cause of the Calverts. 
Varying fortunes. 

The Settlement of New Jersey and Delaware. Grants of land to 
Berkeley and Carteret. The two Jerseys. Philip Carteret and Eliza- 
bethtown. Change of ownership. New Jersey. Christina. Action 
of Stuyvesant. Grant to William Penn. 



Later Colonies in the New World 1 1 i 

The Settlement of Pennsylvania. The Quakers in England ; their 
customs ; their persecutions, William Penn. The grant of land. Nam- 
ing the State. Penn's arrival. Penn's treaty with the Delawares. 
Philadelphia. Last days of William Penn. Mason and Dixon's Line. 

The Settlement of the Carolinas. Territory between Virginia and 
Florida. Granting the land and naming the colony. The first 
settlers. John Locke and the Grand Model. The first settlements. 
Rule of the Proprietors. Carolina divided. North Carolina begun. 
The Tuscaroras ; their uprising and defeat. The homes of the people ; 
their occupations; their industries. Beginnings of South Carolina. 
Charleston. The Huguenots. Rice planting. Slavery. 

The Settlement of Georgia. Debtors' prisons. Oglethorpe. Grant 
of land. Naming the colony. Savannah founded. Oglethorpe and 
Tomochichi. The colonists. Progress of Georgia. Spaniards in 
Florida. Attack on St. Augustine. The Spanish invasion and defeat. 
The decoy letter and its result. Last days of Oglethorpe. 

SUBJECTS FOR STUDY 

Illustrate why America deserves to be called the Land of the Free. 
What persecutions in England led to founding colonies in America? 
What traces do we still find of the Dutch in New York and of the 
Quakers in Pennsylvania? Why was John Locke's Grand Model so 
objectionable to the people of Carolina? Compare the old English law 
of imprisoning debtors with the customs of today. What was the effect 
upon all the Southern colonies of the defeat of the Spaniards at St. 
Simon's Island? 

COMPOSITION 

Write the supposed speech of Peter Stuyvesant to the Dutch about 
surrendering their town. 

Write a supposed conversation between William Penn and the chief 
of the Delaware Indians. 

Describe the unhappy life of an imprisoned debtor. 

MAP QUESTIONS 

Trace the voyage of Henry Hudson. Locate St. Mary's. Where 
is Mason and Dixon's Line? Locate Albemarle Sound, and Cape Fear 
River. Locate Charleston ; Savannah; St. Simon's Island. 



Chapter V 
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ENGLISH 
• 1. PROGRESS OF VIRGINIA 

At the time the Pilgrims came to New England, Virginia 
was a flourishing colony of four thousand people, living in 
eleven separate settlements, called by the old English name of 
boroughs. 

In 1624, King James took away the charter of the Virginia 
Company, and Virginia became a royal province. Its gov- 
Virginia emors were appointed by the king, though the 

becomes a people were still allowed to make many of their 
roya province |g^^g 'pj^g chief reason for this was that the 
Puritans had gained control of the Company, and King James 
hated the Puritans. But this was of little moment, for 
James died the next year and was succeeded by Charles I, 
who soon had so many troubles of his own that he paid little 
heed to his colonies in America. 

In fact a civil war broke out in England, largely brought 
about by the determination of Charles to do as he pleased 
Civil War in regardless of the will of the people or the action 
England ^f Parliament. The Puritans had grown so 

numerous and so strong that they rose in revolt against the 
king and his party, and under the leadership of Oliver Crom- 
well, a great Puritan general, defeated the king and had him 
put to death (1649). Cromwell then became Protector of 
England, until he died. His son was too weak to carry 
on the great plans of his father, and so the people, tired of 



Establishment of the EngUsh 1 1 3 

civil war and strife, recalled the dead king's son from exile, 
and made him king as Charles II (1660). 

All of these dissensions in England had their effect on the 
history of America. When the Puritans were persecuted 
under King James they came over and settled in New England 
in great numbers, where they could be free from persecution. 
When Cromwell was ruler and the Puritans made life in Eng- 
land too severe for the friends of the king, they also moved 
over to America to find the kind of life that suited them. 
America offered then as now a home for the persecuted and 
distressed of all nations and creeds. 

' A great many of the friends of King Charles I, who were 
called Cavaliers, came over and settled in Virginia. In Eng- 
land many of the Cavaliers had been country Cavaliers in 
gentlemen of large estates. When they reached Virginia 
Virginia, they bought large plantations, built beautiful homes 
on the banks of the rivers, planted broad fields of tobacco 
and corn, and bought many slaves to work the soil. Among 
those who came to America during the regime of Cromwell 
were John Washington, the great-grandfather of George 
Washington, and the ancestors of Jefferson, Patrick Henry, 
the Lees, the Randolphs, and other prominent famihes of 
Virginia. 

It was quite a common thing for a planter to own his own 
wharf, where he shipped his cargo of tobacco to England, 
and bought suppHes for his own house. There was almost 
no manufacturing, for everybody preferred farming where 
land was cheap, slaves could be had in abundance, and the 
climate was dehghtful. 

In 1642, Sir WilKam Berkeley became the governor of 
Virginia. He was an aristocrat who cared very little for the 
common people. He was fond of fine clothes and high Hving. 



1 1 4 American History 

He was a brave soldier, a merciless judge, and a devoted 
friend of King Charles. He did not believe in education, 
Sir William and said that he thanked God there were no free 
Berkeley schools and printing presses in Virginia. 

In 1670, about the time the Dutch were driven from New 
York, and before Pennsylvania was settled at all, Virginia 
had forty thousand inhabitants. Berkeley was again gover- 
nor, and was very unpopular. 

Charles II, who was now king, cared much for his ease and 
very little for his English subjects. He needed revenue for 
his treasury and proceeded to put into force the Navigation 
Navigation Laws of the kingdom which were directed at the 
Laws colonies in America. The king had made a law 

that no Virginian should send any tobacco out of the country 
except in an English ship, nor buy anything from any country 
except England. This law put the planters at the mercy of 
the English traders, who paid very little for tobacco and 
charged very high for supplies. 

In addition to these laws, the foolish king actually gave 
away all the territory of Virginia to two of his favorites. 
Lord ArHngton and Lord Culpepper. But this gift amounted 
to nothing, for two men could hardly come over and take 
possession of a vast territory and forty thousand people. 

To make matters worse the Indians began to give trouble. 
In 1676 they rose and began to massacre the people. It was 
Trouble with a terrible attack, and Governor Berkeley refused 
the Indians j-q ^QYid any soldiers to fight them. The people 
begged him to send troops to protect the farms and drive 
away the savages, but he refused. At last the people took 
matters into their own hands. 

A wealthy lawyer, Nathaniel Bacon, was selected as the 
leader. Raising a body of soldiers, he went to fight the 



Establishment of the English 



"5 



Indians. He was so successful in his attack that the people 
obeyed him instead of the governor, and asked him to make 
laws for them. Governor Berkeley became in- Bacon's 
dignant and proclaimed Bacon a rebel. This Rebellion 
action caused such a storm of protest from the people that the 
governor was forced to be 
more reasonable. 

As soon as the Indians 
started more depredations, 
Bacon again called on the 
governor to protect the 
people, and was again re- 
fused. The governor re- 
fused him a commission 
against the Indians. Bacon 
presented himself in James- 
town at the head of the 
troops and demanded the 
right to attack the savages. 

A quarrel ensued between 
them. In a rage Berkeley 
left the town. Bacon then 
took charge of Jamestown 
and, urged by the principal 
inhabitants, set fire to the 
town in order to keep 

Berkeley from getting it. Some of the soldiers in Bacon's 
command owned houses, to which they applied the torch 
themselves. This incident is called "Bacon's Rebellion." 

Sad to relate. Bacon was seized with a fever and died a 
short time afterwards. Berkeley came back to the almost 
destroyed city, and mercilessly hunted down those who had 




The People of Jamestown Burn Their 
Own Town 



ii6 



American History 



been the followers of the brave young leader. He hanged 

twenty-two and kept others in prison. 
When one of Bacon's friends fell into Berkeley's hands, the 

governor said, "I am very glad to see you. You shall be 

hanged in a half hour," 
and so it happened. 
Soon after, the king 
called Berkeley back 
to England, saying, 
^'That old fool has 
hanged more people 
in that naked country 
than I did for the 
murder of my father." 
The capital of Vir- 
ginia was moved to 
Williams- Capital 
burg, and moved to 

Jamestown Williamsburg 

went into decay. 
Those who travel up 
the James River now 
may see an old vine- 
covered tower, which 
is the ruin of one of the churches. It is all that is left to 
mark the spot where the first permanent English settlement 
in America was made. 




The Ruins at Jamestown 



2. INDIAN WARS IN NEW ENGLAND 

While all these white settlements were growing and spread- 
ing, the red men of the forest looked on in wonder and often 
in distrust. The white men generally tried to be friendly with 



Establishment of the English 1 1 7 



the Indians. ' Going into their villages, they made them pres- 
ents of axes, tools, and gaudy jewelry. In return the Indians 
wandered through the white settlements, bringing furs, corn, 
meat, tobacco, and other articles to sell. They came without 
notice and stayed without fear. In all the villages it was a 
familiar sight to see any number of Indians standing around or 
sitting on the ground offering their wares for sale. 




L A N T I c 



OCEAN 



Map of the New England Tribes 

The Indians taught the white men many useful things 
about the woods and the wild life of the New World. They 
taught them how to make snowshoes broad and „„ ^^ 

° What the 

light, so that a man could not only walk but Indians 
could" actuallv run on top of the deep snow, t^^g^t the 

white men 

They taught them how to make a canoe out of 
birch bark, so light that a man could carry it on his back, 
but so strong that it could hold two men and shoot the rapids 
of a river. 

The white men learned all the tricks of imitating the 
cries of the wild turkey, of stalking the deer by day and by 



1 1 8 American History 

night, of spearing fish in the rivers, of hunting in scattered 
parties, of lying concealed in the bushes, of traveling 
through the woods single file so that many men made the 
track of but one by stepping carefully in the same foot- 
prints. The white settlers soon became almost as skilled in 
woodcraft as the Indians themselves. 

Many white men were anxious to convert the Indians to 
Christianity. John EHot, a preacher in Massachusetts, who 
was called ''the Apostle to the Indians," trans- 
lated the Bible into their language, and preached 
the gospel to thousands of them. His sermons were long, 
often lasting two or three hours, and he had to keep his audience 
awake by distributing food and presents while he preached. 

It was said that there were four thousand converted 
Indians in Massachusetts at one time. These were called 
''praying Indians " by the others. The medicine men and the 
chiefs did not look with much favor on this kind of religion, 
because it would keep the Indians from murder and scalping, 
and other occupations agreeable to the savage nature. 

In addition to this, schools were introduced among the 
savages, and many of them were taught to read and write. 
Strict justice was enforced regarding the buying of lands from 
the Indians. No land was ever taken from them without their 
price being paid for it, though their price was often a trifle. 

The Indians, however, were treacherous, and the colonists 
had to be always on their guard. The settlers who lived on 
Fear of the farms were in constant fear that the savages who 
Indians appeared so friendly might at any time turn into 

deadly enemies, murdering the settlers' famihes and burn- 
ing their homes. 

It was against the law for a white man to sell an Indian 
a gun, to give him powder, or sell him whisky to drink. 



Establishment of the EngHsh 1 1 9 



Unfortunately those laws were not obeyed. The Indians had 
guns and powder in abundance, and soon learned to be won- 
derful marksmen. They also learned to drink whisky, and 
became dangerous neighbors when drunk. The Indians did 
not know how to make powder, and thought it grew in the 




A Blockhouse often Stood upon an Eminence for Increased Protection 

AGAINST THE INDIANS 

ground. They planted some for seed, and could not under- 
stand why it did not sprout like any other seed. 

To protect themselves, nearly all the small villages had 
blockhouse forts, and in addition were surrounded by tall 
wooden fences. The gates and doors were closed protection 
at night, and a guard was constantly on watch against the 
against the Indians. If signs of Indians appeared ^^^^^^^ 
to the farmers outside the villages, one of them would quickly 
and silently go to his neighbors and say, '' Indians ! Indians ! " 



I20 



American History 



A tap on the window at night and the dreaded news of warning 
were enough to arouse the households. Quietly the women 
and children stole through the darkness into the fort, or block- 




RoGER Williams Goes to the Tent of Canonicus and Begs Him not to Engage 
IN THE Pequot War 



house, for protection. The men would then arm themselves 
and go into the bushes or woods and find whether savages 
were lurking about. In spite of all precautions there were 
many dreadful massacres, and Indian wars were of frequent 
occurrence. 



Establishment of the English 121 

In the valley of the Thames River in Connecticut dwelt 
the Pequots. Several white men had been murdered by the 
Pequots, and the people of Boston sent a force of men to 
punish them for it. A few Indians were killed, but this 
served only to enrage the rest, who resolved upon a general 
uprising and attack on all the white settlements. They tried 
to get the Narragansetts to help them, but Roger Wilhams, 
of whom we have already studied, went to the tent of Canoni- 
cus and begged him not to join in the war. The Pequots 
threatened the life of Roger Wilhams, but he did not care. 
He told Canonicus the white people were his brothers and 
made war on bad Indians only. Canonicus at length agreed 
not to engage in the war. 

The Pequots began their bloody work in Connecticut, 
attacking the farms and exposed settlements. They lay in 
ambush along the roads and took captive a The Pequot 
number of white men, burning some of • them ^^^ 
ahve, and kilHng the others by hacking them to pieces with 
stone hatchets. 

The English everywhere were alarmed. The Connecticut 
towns sent ninety men, and the Massachusetts towns twenty 
men. These were joined by a friendly band of Mohegan 
Indians, who had their own quarrels with the terrible Pequots. 
This band of whites and Indians set out to attack the savages, 
who had collected in a fort on the Mystic River. 

Just before daybreak the attacking party crept up to the 
fort. A dog barked and aroused the sleeping Indians. The 
whites, however, were upon them. Firebrands were thrown 
over the paHsades, and the fort and the wigwams took fire. 
The Indians rushed out and were shot down as they came. Of 
four hundred warriors, all were killed except five. It was a 
terrible slaughter, and terrified the other Pequots. 



122 



American History 



The remainder of the tribe tried to reach the Hudson 
River and escape. But they were pursued and slain, until 
hardly one was left alive. The head of one of the chiefs was 
cut off and put on a pole, where it stayed to warn all Indians 
of the danger of fighting the white men. This was the end 
of the Pequots. The war occurred in 1637. 




The Pequots Were Pursued and Slain, until Hardly One Was Left Alive 

The destruction of the Pequots brought peace for forty 
years. The Wampanoags were friendly as long as Massa- 
soit Kved. Indeed, the old chief had two sons, whom he had 
baptized with the names Alexander and Pliilip. No matter 
what they thought about the EngHsh, they remembered the 
fate of the Pequots and pretended friendship. 

After a while Massasoit died, and Philip was chief in his 
stead. He was a proud warrior, and was called King Philip. 
King Philip's Trouble soon began. We do not know what 
"^" started the war. It is quite certain that Philip 

was of a mean disposition, and hated the whites, who he 



Establishment of the Enghsh 



123 



thought had no right to be on the land that was once the 
property of his ancestors. 

In 1675 a band of infuriated savages attacked the village 
of Swansea, as the people were coming from church, and 
murdered several of the inhabitants. For a year the Indians 
carried on war, burning houses and killing people, all the 




The Indians or New England Began War by Killing Several People of Swansea 
AS They Came from Church 



way from the Connecticut River to the neighborhood of 
Boston. 

A force of a thousand white men were in pursuit of Philip 
and his followers. The Indians were found in the middle of a 
great swamp near South Kingston in Rhode Island. There 
were over three thousand warriors in all. The stronghold 
of the Indians was attacked, captured, and burned, and over 
seven hundred of the Indians were slain. 

King PhiHp, as he was called, escaped, but was pursued 
and overtaken in a swamp near Mount Hope. The swamp 



124 



American History 



was surrounded, and a party went in to capture him. Philip 
leaped to his feet when he saw his pursuers, and dashed 
Death of towards a place where a white man with a friendly 

King PhUip Indian was on guard. The Indian raised his rifle 
and shot Philip through the heart. The chief bounded in 
the air and fell forward in a pool of water. His head was 
cut off and put on a pole in the town of Plymouth, where it 
stayed for twenty years. The death of Phihp ended the war. 




Colonel Goffe Appears in the Town of Hadley and Leads the People against 

THE Indians 



The power of the Indians was broken forever, and the colonies 
in New England had no more trouble from the savages. 

The Indians attacked the town of Hadley, in Massachusetts, 
during King Philip's War. The men fought the Indians in the 
streets of the town for a while. They then took refuge in 
the church where the women and children had gathered. 

Just as the Indians were about to attack the church, there 
appeared a tall man with long gray hair and beard and a 
sword in his hand. The man said, *Xome, follow me." 



Establishment of the EngHsh 125 

He led the attack against the savages with such effect that 
they were soon driven out of the town. The man coionei 
then vanished as suddenly as he had appeared. ^°^® 
The people thought he was an angel and thanked God for 
their deliverance. 

It is supposed that the man was Colonel Goffe, who had been 
one of the judges that had condemned Charles I, king of Eng- 
land, to death. Charles II, his son, had sworn to behead 
all the judges who had acted at the trial of his father, so 
Colonel Goffe, and another one of the judges, ran away to 
America and lived in concealment the rest of their Hves. 

3. THE TYRANNY OF ANDROS 

We have seen that nearly all the colonies in America were 
founded by people seeking freedom from the rule of tyrg^nts 
or from oppressive laws in the old country. They came to 
America to find freedom, and they did not propose to have 
any tyranny after they reached here if they could prevent it. 

The New England colonies, and especially Massachusetts, 
had been very independent and even defiant of the king of 
England. Indeed, in some respects Massachu- xheinde- 
setts had been almost too independent. In seek- pendenceof 

, . T . . . the New 

mg freedom for their own religious opinions, England ♦ 
the Puritans would not allow Roger Williams, colonies 
nor Anne Hutchinson, nor the Quakers, to stay in Massachu- 
setts and have religious opinions of their own. They were 
almost as intolerant as the king himself. 

Some of the Massachusetts people, in dissatisfaction, 
went back to England. They found means to Massachu- 
tell King Charles II what was happening in New setts loses its 
England. They told him that the people col- *'^"*^'' 
lected taxes without his permission, and had even given a 



126 American History 

hearty welcome and a hiding place to two of the judges who, 
while they were in England, had sentenced the king's father 
to death. They also said that the people did not obey the 
Navigation Laws, which required all the colonists to trade 
only \vith EngHsh merchants and to ship their goods in 
English ships. 

All this made the king very angry. He found means to 
take away the charter of the Massachusetts Company and 
to make the colony a royal province, of which the governor 
should be appointed by the king. Thus did Massachusetts 
lose its charter. 

Now Charles II died, and James II became king. He 
sent over to Massachusetts, in 1686, a governor by the name 
Sir Edmund of Sir Edmund Andros. Andros soon afterwards 
Andros ^g^g jnade governor of all New England, New 

York, and New Jersey. He then had a large and royal domain 
over which he was supposed to be absolute master. He was 
as much a tyrant as ever Berkeley was in Virginia, and we 
shall see that he was treated in much the same way. 

Andros at once told the people that they had lost their char- 
ters, that they did not own their land, and must therefore pay 
rent for it to the king. He took away from the people the 
right to make their own laws and levy their own taxes in 
town meetings. Many men were thrown into prison for 
small offenses. It was the rule of a tyrant upheld by the 
king. The people were loud in their complaints against 
Andros, but they could not help themselves. 

Andros went to Connecticut to seize the charter of that 
<j.jjg colony. He appeared in Hartford at the head 

Connecticut of sixty soldiers, and called a meeting of the 
charter townspeople. He sat at a table and Hstened to 

the arguments of the citizens against his taking the charter. 



Establishment of the English i 27 

After it grew dark, candles were brought in and the talk 
went on. All this time the charter itself lay in a box on 
the table, in full sight of everybody, but closely watched by 
the people. 

At last Andros grew tired and ordered the charter to be 
given to him. At that moment some one blew out the 
candles, and the room was in complete darkness. Captain 
Wadsworth, one of the Hartford men, seized the precious 
paper, felt his way out of the room, and hid the charter in 
the hollow of an old oak tree near by. • 

When the candles were reKghted, of course the charter 
was nowhere to be seen. It lay for several years in the 
old oak tree, which ever siiice has been called The Charter 
Oak. This tree stood until 1856, when it was blown down 
during a violent storm. 

Andros went back to Massachusetts and continued his 
tyrannical rule. Happily this did not last very long. James 
II was no longer king, and Andros had lost his power. The 
people promptly threw him into prison and finally sent him 
back to England. 

4. THE FRENCH EXPLORE THE MISSISSIPPI 

We have already seen that the English colonies were planted 
along the Atlantic coast and were firmly estabHshed in the 
New World. All this time the Spaniards were still holding 
Florida, and the French had been busy in Canada and along 
the Great Lakes. 

The Indians had told of a great river to the west. No 
one knew what river it was, or into what waters it flowed. 
We are now to tell the story of how some brave French 
explorers rowed down this great river, which proved to be 
the Mississippi. 



128 



American History 



The French had at first settled at Quebec. From there 
the traders pushed their way into the woods of Canada, and 
along the Great Lakes, making forts and settlements, buying 
furs from the Indians, and selKng them whatever they asked 
for, including firearms and whisky. 







Marquette Explores the Mississippi 



Many priests also went into the wilderness to convert the 
savages to Christianity. They Hved in their villages, spoke 
their language, and from them learned of the great river that 
flowed south into an unknown sea. 

Among these priests was Father Marquette, who had a 
mission at the head of the Great Lakes. He resolved to 



Establishment of the English 129 

explore the river of which the Indians had told him, and to 
preach to the Indians along its banks. At the same time 
another explorer, JoHet, was bent on explora- Marquette 
tion. *^^ J^^^t 

The two pien decided to go together, and in May, 1673, set 
out on their perilous voyage. With them went five other 
Frenchmen. The party went in two canoes, taking some corn 
and smoked meat for food. 

Their first course took them across the head of Lake 
Michigan and then into Green Bay. Here they landed, and 
Marquette preached to the Indians. He told them of his 
plans, and begged them to lend him some guides to show 
the way and help carry the canoes across the swamps. The 
guides were secured, and hfting the canoes over their heads, 
the explorers toiled overland until they came to the Wisconsin 
River. Here they again launched their boats and set out 
anew on their travels. 

In seven days they reached the broad current of the 
Mississippi River and turned their course southward. For 
many beautiful days and nights their httle craft Exploring the 
floated down the great stream, by fertile fields Mississippi 
in which buffaloes were feeding, through great forests of 
dense growth, by Indian villages, where the savages were 
astonished at the strange white color of the voyagers. 

It was a long and wonderfully beautiful voyage. At last, 
after many days, the canoes arrived far down the river, at 
the mouth of the Arkansas, near the place where De Soto 
had crossed a hundred and fifty years before. 

Here the voyagers landed, and found a large Indian village. 
The Indians told them of the dangers farther down the river, 
of the savages to be dreaded, and persuaded the Frenchmen 
to go no farther. 



130 



American History 



Marquette and Joliet began the weary journey upstream, 
not having reached the mouth of the Mississippi. They had 
seen enough, however, to make them know that the river 
did not flow into the Pacific Ocean, but did flow into the Gulf 
of Mexico. 

We now come to the story of Robert La Salle, a young 
French nobleman, who had traveled all over Canada and 
Robert gained much wealth by trading with the Indians. 

La Salle jjg resolved to finish the work that Marquette and 

Joliet had begun. He determined to explore the whole 
length of the Mississippi, to claim all the territory of its valley 




La Salle Takes Possession of Louisiana 

and of its tributaries for the French king, and to found a vast 
empire to the west of the Enghsh settlements. 

In the spring of 1682 he began his voyage down the Mis- 
sissippi. He had a large number of whites and Indians, and a 
fleet of canoes. As they went they marked out sites for 



Establishment of the English i 3 1 

forts, and gave names to places in order to secure possession 
of the land. 

After two months' voyage down the river, having almost 
the same experiences as Marquette and Joliet, they came to a 
place where the stream divided into three parts. Some one 
dipped up a little water to drink, and found it to be slightly 



New Orleans as It Appeared in 17 19 

salty. La Salle then knew he was near the mouth of the 
river. 

At last in a few days the canoes glided out of the stream 
and on to the broad bosom of the gulf. La Salle landed 
near the mouth of the river, set up a flag and a 

Louisiana 

standard with the arms of France, and in the 
name of the king took possession of all the lands drained by 
the Mississippi River. He called the whole country Louisiana, 
in honor of Louis XIV, who was then king of France. 

La Salle returned to Canada as quickly as he could, and 
then sailed to France, where he told King Louis about his 
great voyage and the vast country he had claimed for 
France. He urged the king to plant colonies along the 
river, for one day all that land would be immensely valuable. 



132 American History 

The king sent La Salle with four vessels to found a colony 
at the mouth of the Mississippi. 

When he reached the Gulf of Mexico, La Salle lost his 
way, passed the mouth of the river, and landed somewhere 
on the coast of Texas. He tried to find the river, but his 
followers grew weary of the long marches, and one day they 
conspired to kill him. One of his men hid in the grass and 
shot him as he was passing by. The brave La Salle died 
in a hour, and was buried somewhere in the wild regions 
around the mouth of the great river he had explored. 

France did not forget his great plans, however, and in 
a few years (1699) the town of Biloxi, in the southern part 
Settlements of the State of Mississippi, was settled. A little 
in Louisiana j^ter (1718) New Orleans was settled, now the 
largest city in the Southern States. Thus the French estab- 
lished their claim to an immense tract of land drained by the 
Mississippi River. 

The name Louisiana now belongs to one state, very 
small in comparison to the territory once called by that 
name. The French maintained that when a river was dis- 
covered, the discoverer could claim all the lands drained by 
that river and by its tributaries. Nearly half the territory 
of the United States is drained by the Mississippi and its 
branches, so that the claims of France and the name of 
New France covered all the lands in the New World from 
the Rocky Mountains to the Allegheny Mountains and all 
the region of Canada. 

5. THE FRENCH IN AMERICA 

While the Enghsh had possession of the Atlantic coast, 
the French had spread their thin settlements along the 
St. Lawrence River, thence out to the Great Lakes and 



Establishment of the English 



133 



along the Mississippi River. They gradually extended their 
posts farther and farther, along the Ohio, Wisconsin, and 
lUinois rivers, claiming all the lands drained by the great 
rivers, until their lands completely surrounded the lands 
claimed by the Enghsh. 




The French Posts Were Stockade Forts and Were Centers of Fur Trading 
WITH THE Indians 



French posts 



The English settlements were close together, each colony 
being a town of good size, where houses and churches were 
built and farms were cultivated. It was not so 
with the French. Their posts were far apart, 
many days' journey from each other, and were mere stockade 
forts of one or two houses. 

These outposts were reached by dim trails through the 
forests, or by long journeys on the rivers in canoes. At 
each was a chapel, made of bark and surmounted with a 



134 American History 

cross, where the French priests gathered the Indians and 
the soldiers and preached to them. There was also a store- 
house where provisions were kept for the soldiers and traders, 
and furs were stored as they were bought from the Indians. 
One object which the French had in view was the buying 
of furs. The northwest portion of our country was full of 
fur-bearinsr animals, such as the bear, the beaver, 

Fur trading , , ^ ^ ,. ' , ' , ' 

the lynx. Indian hunters and trappers would 
range the deep wilderness in summer and plod through the 
snow in winter, kilhng the game, and packing the furs on sleds, 
or piHng them in canoes. 

The valuable furs were then brought to the French trad- 
ing posts. There the traders would bargain for them, giving 
the Indians long knives, hatchets, axes, whisky, guns, beads, 
cheap jewelry, and articles of that sort, for the most valuable 
furs. Furs worth a hundred dollars could often be bought 
for a mirror or a pocket knife. These furs were collected 
in great quantities, sent to the nearest fort, and sold to 
European merchants. 

Another object of the French was the noble and unselfish 
one of converting the savages to Christianity. Among the 
Converting boldest and most sacrificing of the pioneers we 
the Indians ^^d the French priests. With cross and brevi- 
ary they pierced the farthest Kmits of the wilderness, setting 
up their httle chapels in the villages of the Indians, Kving in 
their wigwams, teaching them the customs of civiHzed fife, 
preaching to them of Christianity, enduring all sorts of hard- 
ship, and frequently ending their fives in the horrors of savage 
torture. 

It was in this way that the French came to claim all the 
great interior of North America, the regions of Canada, all 
the country around the Great Lakes, and all the lands 



Establishment of the English 135 

drained by the Ohio, Missouri, and Mississippi rivers, which 
was many times more land than the English had, though the 
Enghsh had twenty times more people in America. 

Quebec was still the French center and main military 
post. Here the governor of New France lived. Here came 
the French vessels to trade, and here gathered the trappers 
and hunters to dispose of their furs, and buy things with 
which to delight and delude the savages. 

There were many reasons for the French and English 
quarrels in America. The French claimed a part of the 
territory of the present State of Maine; so did Reasons for 
the Enghsh. The French claimed all the vast *^® quarrels 
valley of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers ; the English did the 
same. The French wanted to control all the fur trade with 
the Indians along the Great Lakes and in the West ; the 
Enghsh wanted their share. The French were Roman 
CathoHcs ; the Enghsh were Protestants. Finally, the French 
and the English were at war in Europe, and it could hardly 
be expected they would live peaceably in America. 

A great struggle began between these two nations, to de- 
termine which should control the destiny of the New World. 
If the French won, we should become a French nation. If 
the Enghsh won, we should remain an Enghsh nation. This 
meant a great deal to America. 

Count Frontenac was now governor of Canada. He was 
an old man nearly seventy years of age, but as full of fire and 
spirit as a man of twenty. He often went count 
among the Indian allies of the French, decorated Frontenac 
with war paint, and danced with them around their fires. 
In 1690 he sent a war party down to Schenectady, which 
surprised the httle village at midnight, and murdered sixty 
people while they were asleep. Some few escaped in their 



136 American History 

night clothes, and, half dead with cold and fright, fled to 
Albany. 

Other attacks and massacres occurred from time to time. 
The villages along the Canadian frontier suffered most. The 
people were never safe in the fields or at home. They did 
not know at what time a war whoop would be heard and a 
dreadful band of painted savages led by French officers would 
burst upon them with tomahawk and firebrand. 

To put a stop to all this, the people of New England sent 
an army against Quebec and another against Montreal, but 
^ these were no match for Count Frontenac, and 

William's but little came of their efforts. This first war, 
from 1690 to 1697, was in America known as 
King William's War, because William III was king of Eng- 
land at the time. It came to an end by a treaty of peace 
between England and France. 

Both sides rested for five or six years, until ELing William 
died, and the war broke out again. The second war was over 
here called Queen Anne's War, because Anne was now queen 
of England. This began in 1702 and lasted twelve years. 

The Indians always played an important part in these wars, 
some being on the French side, and some on the English. An 
^ ^ ,, attack was made on Deerfield in Massachusetts, 

Deerfield ' 

where the savages descended on the town and 
drove the people into one of the large houses. They then 
knocked the door to pieces, thrust their muskets through the 
cracks, and killed a woman who was inside. As usual, they 
marched off with their captives as quickly as they had come. 
After twelve years of war, a treaty was again made between 
France and England, by which France gave up her claim to 
the territory of Maine and Nova Scotia and the Hudson Bay 
country. After that there was no longer any quarrel over 



Establishment of the English 



137 



the territory to the north. France had made her first con- 
cession to the arms of England. 

King WilHam's War and Queen Anne's War came close 
together. There came a long peace, lasting thirty years, 
before the third war of the series was fought. In the mean- 
time the English colonies kept gaining in numbers and strength. 




During Queen Anne's War the Indians Attacked the Town of Deerfield, Mass. 



The Carolinas and Georgia had become flourishing colonies, 
and every year saw thousands of people landing upon our 
shores and seeking homes in America. 

The French were not idle. They still insisted upon their 
rights of possession along the Mississippi and Ohio, and 
extended their settlements and forts all the way from Canada 
to New Orleans. The question of who should control in 
America was far from settled yet. 



138 American History 

In 1744 war broke out afresh between France and England, 
and lasted five years. This war was in America called King 
^i„g George's War, because George II was then king 

George's of England. The main event of this war was 

^ the capture of the French fort, Louisburg, which 

lay at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. It had cost 
several milhon dollars, was built of heavy stone, and the 
French thought it could not be taken. In this they were 
proved to be mistaken, for the Enghsh captured it after a 
siege of six weeks. The French were greatly surprised at 
this, and the English everywhere celebrated the victory with 
bonfires, speeches, and rejoicing. 

The people of New England were deeply wrathful, when 
the war ended, to find that the English had given Louisburg 
back to the French in exchange for another city on the other 
side of the globe. They knew that the fortress was very 
important and would have to be conquered again. 

6. THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 

The French and English were getting ready for their final 
struggle to settle the old question of who should control the 
Mississippi and Ohio valleys. It had been in dispute for 
nearly a hundred years. The Ohio Valley was the scene of the 
opening struggle. 

To exclude the Frencfi from the Ohio Valley, a company 
was formed by the English known as the Ohio Company, 
The Ohio which proceeded to colonize that territory in order 
Company j-q j^^eep the French away. The French heard of 
this, and promptly appeared on the Ohio with a body of 
men, who drove away the English traders and sent word to 
the Governor of Pennsylvania not to allow any more English- 
men upon the lands of France. 



Establishment of the EngUsh 



139 



In the spring of 1753 Duquesne, who was the French 
Governor of Canada, sent an exploring party down the 
Allegheny River to colonize the territory. He coolly declared 
that the land belonged to the French, and he proposed to 
keep it. When the Virginians heard of this they were indignant 
and Governor Dinwiddle re- 
solved to send the French 
commander a letter, asking 
him by what authority he had 
come into that land, and re- 
questing him to leave it. 

The governor wanted some 
one of courage and experience 
to take the note. 









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The message 

to the French He selected George 
settlements Washington, who 
at that time was twenty-one 
years old. The young man 
appeared before the governor 
and received his instructions. 
The place where he was to 
go was five hundred miles 
away, beyond a tangled 
wilderness, beset by savages 
and dangers of all kinds. 

When he and his companions reached the French settlement 
on the Allegheny River, they found the officer busily engaged 
in building his fort. Washington gave him the letter of 
Governor Dinwiddle. The officer read it and said, ''I am 
acting under orders of the Governor of Canada, and cannot 
leave this place. It is his intention to occupy this land and 
to keep every Englishman out of it." 



GeorctL Washington AppL^Rt, blporc 
Governor Dinwiddie to Receive 
Instructions 



140 American History 

Having received the reply of the officer, Washington and 

his men started on their journey homeward. The return 

was even worse than the goinsr. It was the 

The return , , r - 1 , . 

depth of wmter, the weather was mtensely cold, 
and the rivers were full of ice. There was hardly any chance 
of getting a fire, and their clothes froze to their limbs. They 
waded through swamps and creeks until their tired pack- 
horses gave out and refused to go any farther. Washington 
and one of his companions gave up their horses and trudged 
on foot for the rest of the way. 

At last, after travehng a thousand miles, the party reached 
home, and Washington took the officer's letter to Governor 
Dinwiddle. The reply, of course, called for war. There was 
nothing else to do. This action of the French brought on the 
great French and Indian War. 

War between the French and the English began in earnest. 
The French completed the fort they had begun on the Alle- 
FortDu- gheny River and called it Fort Duquesne. 

quesne ^he English under Washington moved into the 

neighborhood, and built a fort which they called Fort Neces- 
sity. The French, however, were stronger than the Virginians, 
and they captured Washington's fort, driving the Virginians 
away. 

The English promptly prepared for war. The English 
government sent an army of soldiers under General Braddock. 
Braddock was a brave soldier, who could do very well in 
ordinary warfare, but fighting Indians in the woods was 
something he knew nothing about. 

Braddock landed in Virginia, and after many delays started 
General through the wilderness after the French at Fort 

Braddock Duquesne. Washington went with him as one 
of his officers. 



Establishment of the Enghsh 



141 



After a month's slow marching the army was within a 
few miles of the French fort. Suddenly, without any warn- 
ing, Braddock found himself surrounded on all sides by 
French and Indians, who, hidden .behind trees and lying in 
the bushes, opened a terrible fire upon the almost defenseless 
English. 

Braddock did not know what to do with an enemy he could 
not see. He ordered his soldiers to stand in line and fire 
at the bushes where the 
savages were hidden. Their 
bullets were buried in the 
trunks of trees, while the 
deadly aim of the In- 
dians and French mowed 
down the English troops. 
Washington begged Brad- 
dock to order his men 
into the woods for protec- 
tion and to fight behind 
trees as the savages did. 
Braddock was obstinate 
and kept his men in line. 

Finally the soldiers could endure it no longer. They broke 
ranks and ran for safety. Braddock stormed and tried to beat 
them back into line. Four horses were killed Washington's 
under him, and he mounted a fifth. Washington bravery 
did all he could to save the day. Two horses were killed 
under him, and his clothes were pierced by bullets. 

At last Braddock was shot through the lungs and fell 
from his horse, and Washington drew the body of Braddock's 
the troops out of danger. Braddock died soon defeat 
after, saying in his deUrium, ''We shall know better how to 




The French in the Ohio Valley 



142 



American History 



deal with them next time." Whether he meant the Indians 
or his own troops nobody knows, but the general paid the 
penalty for his obstinacy. 

This battle took place July 9, 1755, and is known as 
^'Braddock's Defeat." The Indians now flocked to the side 




Braddock's Army Is Defeated in an Ambush, July, 1755 

of the French, while the EngHsh were greatly discouraged at 
this bad beginning. 

The war now took another field. In the upper part of 
New York State on Lake George, the French were defeated 
Progress of by the English in a bloody battle, and Fort 
the war William Henry was built to command the head- 

waters of the Hudson River. This fortress was captured in 
1757 by the French, and the English soldiers were promised a 
safe return to their homes. As soon as they left the fort, 
however, the savages, who could not be held in check by the 



Establishment of the EngHsh 



H3 



French officers, fell upon the prisoners and murdered every 
one of them. 

In 1758, Louisburg, which we remember had been returned 
to the French, was captured again by the English. In the 
same year Fort Duquesne was captured from the French 




The Acadians in Nova Scotia Are Driven from Their Homes on Account of 
Their Sympathy for the French 

and its name changed to Fort Pitt. The city of Pittsburgh 
has since been built upon its site. 

Washington himself was present when the French left 
Fort Duquesne, and' the English flag was planted on its. 
ramparts by his own hand. When he went back to Virginia 
he was chosen a member of the House of Burgesses. 

The sad story of the Acadians belongs to this ^j^g expulsion 
part of our history. They were a simple peasant of the 
people living in Nova Scotia. Their sympathies 
were with the French, and they refused to take the oath 



144 American History 

of allegiance to the king of England. They wished to be 
neutral in the war, and begged to be let alone by both sides. 
This the EngHsh would not allow. They entered upon the 
lands of the Acadians, burned their houses, and at the point 
of the bayonet forced them on board waiting ships. Famihes 
were separated in the confusion, never to be reunited. Seven 
thousand of these people were distributed among the various 
colonies by this cruel act, and many sad afflictions befell 
the unhappy people. 

7. THE FALL OF QUEBEC 

At this same time a great war was going on in Europe, 
which was known as the Seven Years' War. France was in 
Seven league with Austria and Russia against Prussia 

Years' War, and England. In this way nearly every Euro- 
175 17 3 pean city was a rally camp for troops, and nearly 
every country was a battlefield. The war in America was a 
part of the Seven Years' War, though here it is known as the 
French and Indian War. 

The great EngHsh statesman, WilHam Pitt, was dissatisfied 
with the way the war was carried on in America, and deter- 
mined to make a bold effort to end it. To do this he knew 
that it was necessary to capture the city of Quebec in Canada. 
For this purpose he chose one of the bravest officers in the 
EngHsh army. His name was James Wolfe. 

A part of the town of Quebec is situated on a hill three 
hundred feet above the river. The top of this hill is called 
the Heights of Abraham. The lower town along the river 
was easy enough to capture, but it was no slight task to climb 
a precipice and conquer a strong citadel full of brave men, 
especially when they were under the command of so able a 
soldier as the French general, Marquis de Montcalm. 



Establishment of the English 145 



For two months and a half the EngHsh laid siege to Quebec. 
Wolfe was ill with fever nearly all the time, but never failed 
in his industry and vigilance. He directed every The siege of 
movement and planned every attack, but Mont- Quebec 
calm on the Heights with his seven thousand men was too 
strong to be captured. Wolfe was discouraged, and knew 
that the citadel could be 
captured only by a bold 
stroke. He, therefore, de- 
cided upon a desperate plan. 

Montcalm had guarded 
every approach to his citadel, 
except on one side where 
the rocks were so steep that 
he thought no one could 
possibly climb them. Only 
a few pickets were placed 
there as sentinels. It was 
up this precipice that Wolfe 
decided to cUmb with his 
army. On the day before 
the attack he was very ill. 
He made his will, sent for 
a* friend, and told him he 
doubted whether he should be alive many days. 

On the night of September 12, 1759, the EngHsh lowered 
their boats from the ships, and the soldiers quietly took their 
places. With mufEed oars they ghded up the river past the 
French batteries. Not a sound was uttered. Wolfe was 
in the foremost boat. The troops landed silently and began 
two by two to pull themselves up the steep rocks. 

When near the top, one of the men made a noise, and a 




Wolfe's Cove, Quebec 



146 



American History 



picket cried out, "Who goes there?" An English captain 
answered, "The French." The sentinel demanded, "What 
regiment?" The captain replied, "The Queen's." The 
sentinel was satisfied, and the English passed on. 

In the morning, great was Montcalm's surprise to find 
Wolfe and his army before the fort, on the broad plain which is 
The capture known as the Plains of Abraham. At eight o'clock 
of Quebec the battle began. Wolfe, sick as he was, led his 
men to the attack, and was shot down by a French bullet. 
He said to one of his aids, "Support me. Do not let my men 

see me fall." He was then borne 
from the field. As he lay dying 
he heard the cry, "They run! 
They run!" "Who run?" he 
asked. "The French," was the 
reply. " God be praised," said he, 
"I die in peace." Thus expired 
the brave General Wolfe just as 
his" men were driving the French 
out of Quebec. 

In another part of the field 
Montcalm lay dying, wounded by 
a shot from the English. When 
he heard of the disaster to his 
troops, he said, "Thank God, I 
shall not live to see Quebec 
surrender." In a few days the 
garrison surrendered to the British. 

Four years later peace was signed between France and 
England, in which the French gave up all of Canada, and all 
their possessions east of the Mississippi. As France had 
already ceded to Spain "the island of New Orleans" and all 




Wolfe's Monument 



Establishment of the English 147 

the territory of Louisiana, she was now left without any 
possessions in North America. 

TOPICS 

Progress of Virginia. Virginia a royal province. Chief reason for 
change. Civil war in England. Oliver Cromwell. Charles II. Effect 
on America. Cavaliers in Virginia; mode of life. Character of Sir 
William Berkeley. Character of Charles II. Navigation Laws. Ar- 
lington and Culpepper. Trouble with the Indians. Nathaniel Bacon. 
Berkeley's action. Bacon's Rebellion. Berkeley's cruelty. His recall. 
Moving the capital. 

Indian Wars of New England. The white men and the Indians, 
What the Indians taught the white men ; what the white men learned 
of the ways of the Indians. John Eliot and his preaching; how the 
Indians received religion in schools. Justice to the Indians. Fear of the 
Indians. Selling guns and whisky. Blockhouse forts. The Pequots. 
Roger Williams. How the war began. Slaughter of the Pequots. End 
of the war. King Philip. Attack on Swansea. Pursuit of Philip; 
death of King Philip. Colonel Goffe. 

The Tyranny of Andros. How the colonists in Massachusetts showed 
their intolerance. Reports to the king. Taking away the charter. 
Sir Edmund Andros. The beginning of his tyranny. Demands the 
Connecticut charter ; seizing the charter ; Charter Oak. Fate of 
Andros. 

The French Explore the Mississippi. French settlements; the 
traders ; priests ; Marquette ; Joliet. Their first course. Exploring 
the Mississippi. Landing. Return. La Salle ; his determination ; his 
voyage ; his landing. Taking possession of land ; Louisiana. His 
return, and reports to King Louis. Last days of La Salle. Settlement 
in Louisiana. New France. 

The French in America. Extension of French posts ; character of 
posts ; how reached ; chapels ; storehouses. Fur trading. French 
priests in the wilderness. Extent of French claims. Quebec center of 
trade. The reasons for French and English quarrels in America. Count 
Frontenac. Attack on Schenectady. Terror of border towns. King 
William's War. Queen Anne's War. Attack on Deerfield. Rest for 
thirty years. King George's War. Capture of Louisburg. 



48 American History 



French and Indian War. The scene of the struggle. The Ohio Com- 
pany. Driving away the EngHsh traders. French on the Allegheny 
River. Governor Dinwiddle. George Washington. Carrying the mes- 
sage; the reply; the return journey; hardships and dangers. Fort 
Duquesne. Fort Necessity. General Braddock. The march and the 
ambush. The battle. Braddock's defeat. The war on Lake George. 
Louisburg. Pittsburgh. The story of the Acadians. 

The Fall of Quebec. The Seven Years' War. WiUiam Pitt. Plan to 
capture Quebec. James Wolfe. Montcalm. Siege of Quebec. Wolfe's 
decision; the attack on Quebec. The capture. Fate of Wolfe and 
Montcalm. End of war and condition of treaty of peace. 

SUBJECTS FOR STUDY 

Discuss the effect upon American colonization of the religious wars 
and persecutions in England. Discuss the treatment of the Indians by 
the white people. What was the difference between the French and the 
English settlement? Why are we so largely an English people, instead 
of French or Spanish ? 

COMPOSITION 

Suppose you lived in a frontier home and write some of your experi- 
ences. 

Write a description of an Indian attack and how you escaped into a 
blockhouse. 

Write the account of an eyewitness to the hiding of the Connecticut 
charter. 

Write a description of the life of a wood ranger hunting for furs. 

MAP QUESTIONS 

Locate the Thames River ; the Mystic River ; Swansea ; Hadley. 
Trace the voyage of Marquette and Joliet ; La Salle. Locate Biloxi ; 
Schenectady ; Louisburg. Trace the journey of George Washington to 
the French fort. Locate the place of Braddock's defeat. Where is Nova 
Scotia? 

Collateral Reading. " Evangeline," by LongfeUow. 



O \ // 




J ^ 


^ 


iMM 






4r 




^^^^^ 




lo'- 






^ N 




— ( 


\ 


1 \ 



Territory Before the French and Indian War (1755) 




Territory After the French and Indian War (1763) 



Chapter VI 
LIFE IN THE COLONIES 

1. COLONUL GOVERNMENT 

The French and Indian War was over, and the English 
colonies were firmly established in America. Virginia was 
now about one hundred and fifty years old. It was the 
largest of the colonies, having over a quarter of a milKon of 
people. Massachusetts was second in size, and Pennsylvania 
third. Georgia was the youngest colony, being now about 
thirty years old. All together, at the close of the French and 
Indian War there were probably one million and a half 
people in the EngHsh colonies in America. 

There were no large cities, such as we have today. Phila- 
delphia was the largest, having a population of twenty-five 
thousand. Boston, New York, and Charleston cities and 
were the other large towns. The people were settlements 
scattered in small villages and farming settlements along the 
seaboard from Maine to Florida. The settlements were fewer 
and the population thinner the further they were from the 
coast. In the Ohio villages beyond the Allegheny Mountains, 
there were only a few traders and an occasional settlement 
of adventurous pioneers. 

All the thirteen colonies received their forms of government 
from the crown. Each colony was independent of Forms of 
every other colony, having its own assembly and government 
its own governor. These governments may be divided into 
three classes, according to their nature : 

149 



150 American History 

1. The royal colonies, — New Hampshire, New York, 
New Jersey, Virginia, North Carohna, South Carohna, 
Georgia. 

2. The proprietary colonies, — Maryland, Delaware, 
Pennsylvania. 

3. The charter colonies, — Rhode Island, Connecticut, 
Massachusetts. 

In the royal colonies the king appointed the governor ; in 
the proprietary colonies the governor was appointed by the 
proprietor; in the charter colonies the people had the right 
to manage their own affairs under the terms of the charter 
granted them. In each royal and proprietary colony there 
was a council appointed by the crown or by the proprietor, 
and an assembly elected by the people. In most cases the 
laws passed by the colonists had to be approved by the king 
or by the proprietor. There was some variation in the govern- 
ment of nearly all the colonies, however, and but few colonies 
were satisfied with the method by which the laws were made 
and approved. 

Many of the governors were honest and faithful, but few of 
them were competent, and a large number were tyrannical 
The people ^^^ unjust, selling the offices at their disposal, 
and the and caring little for the welfare of the people, 

governors rpj^^ ^^^y check upon them was the power of the 
assembly to vote taxes and order supplies. In case the 
governor refused to approve the laws passed by the assembly, 
then that body might refuse to grant him his salary or any 
money to run the government. 

In this way there was constant conflict between the people 
and the authority designated by foreign power to rule over 
them. In the charter colonies, except in Massachusetts, the 
governors were elected by the people, and consequently there 



Life in the Colonies i 5 1 

was less liability to a conflict between the people and the 
governors. 

In methods of local self-government there was a difference 
among the colonies, depending largely upon the difference in 
their conditions. In New England, where the New England 
winters were long and cold and the roads were settlements 
in bad condition much of the year, and where the Indians 
were most unfriendly, it was necessary for the people to settle 
in small towns, close together for protection and comfort. 

There were no great plantations or fertile areas owned by 
any one man, in which slaves cultivated the crops, but the 
farms were small, and were worked by the owners. Another 
reason for the compact settlements of New England was the 
desire of the people to attend the same church as a body or 
congregation. 

Under these conditions grew up the New England township, 
which not only included the town itself but all the httle 
farms close by. These townships w^ere governed 

1 • 1 • 1 11 1 111 The township 

by a town meeting at which all the people gathered 
and discussed the town affairs. The officers were elected, 
taxes were levied, local laws were made, and public questions 
were discussed. 

Here the people ruled themselves and learned how to man- 
age their own affairs. In the town hall the orators debated 
town questions, and the people voted as they were inclined. 
It was the pure form of democracy and the best possible 
school for teaching the people the meaning of independence. 

In addition to the town hall, each township had its own 
church, which was controlled by the congrega- 

rT.1 1 11 1 1 1 . ? 1 The church 

tion. I he men elected the preacher, and decided 

upon the business interests of the church. They would not 

hesitate to criticize the doctrines of the parson and to decide 



152 American History 

the kind of sermons they were wilKng to hear. These con- 
tentions often led to factions and disputes among the congre- 
gation. These debates in the town halls, and these differences 
in the churches, led to serious discord at times and were often 
the occasion of a large number of the people moving from one 
town to settle elsewhere and begin a separate town for them- 
selves. The township system still exists in many parts of 
New England. 

In Virginia the conditions were quite different from New 
England. The winters were short and not severe, the roads 
Life in Were Open most of the year, the soil was fertile, 

Virginia ^^^ ^}^g settlers naturally turned to farming and the 

owning of slaves and large estates. Under these conditions, 
the population was spread out over large areas rather than 
condensed into towns and villages. 

This made the county form of government necessary. The 
chief county officer was the sheriff. Next to him was the 
colonel, whose duties were largely military. Local govern- 
ment was in the hands of the county court, whose members 
were usually appointed by the governor. 

Instead of the town meeting of New England, the people 

of Virginia had their court days, in which they came from 

all parts of the county to the court house, which 

Court days ^ „ . , •" . 1 • i 

generally occupied a prominent place m the 
center of the town. Here the people gathered to hear polit- 
ical speeches, discuss the affairs of the county, and engage in 
private business. 

Friends would meet by appointment on those days for 
reunions, candidates for ofhce would come to meet the people, 
and sports and pastimes would be indulged in. It was by 
this means that the Virginian and other Southern colonists 
decided upon their ofhce holders and the policy of their 



Life in the Colonies 



153 



colonies in many matters. The county system of government 
still prevails in the Southern States. 



2. THE HOMES OF THE COLONISTS 

' When the first settlers came to America they found great 
forests, with plenty of wood, but, having no sawmills and 
but few saws to cut boards, many people were pioneer 
forced to live in caves dug out of the sides of Monies 
the hills. These were used for a short time only, and soon 
gave way to the log cabin. 




A Pioneer's House in the Wilderness. From Such Homes Have Come Many of 
THE Greatest Men of the Nation 

A log cabin was made of round logs, notched at the ends 
so that they would fit together. The spaces between the 
logs were filled with mud or straw to keep out the wind and 
cold. The roof was made of long shingles, split with an ax. 
There was also a rude chimney made of mud and sticks. 

This made a comfortable house in summer time, but it 



154 



American History 



was cold in winter. The log cabin for a long time was the 
only kind of house the farmers had. After a while in the 
villages a better sort appeared. As the people prospered 
they gradually built larger and more comfortable houses, 
just as they do in this day. 

There was no glass to be had for the early homes. The 
colonists frequently used oiled paper in the window open- 
ings, which let in some light, but their main dependence was 

upon the great fire- 
place, and the huge 
fire, which served for 
both light and heat. 

Often there were 
no wooden floors to 
the houses, but the 
ground was packed 
hard and covered 
with sand. Some- 
times the people used candles for Hght, as there were no lamps 
and kerosene oil such as we now have. Even candles had 
to be made at home, and were considered a great luxury. 

Let us look into one of the homes of the early colonists 
after dark. We find a great roaring fire in the chimney, 
A look with a big backlog, glowing hot, and fat wood 

inside burning around it. The flames leap up the chim- 

ney, giving out a splendid heat, but if it is very cold outside 
our backs will almost freeze while our faces scorch. 

Around the fire are benches or stools on which the family 
sit, the women knitting woollen socks or making shirts, coats, 
trousers, and indeed all the garments that the family wear. 
The men are cleaning their guns, mending their tools, and 
helping with the housework. The supper is being cooked in 




A New England Fireside 



Life in the Colonies 155 

kettles, pots, or ovens before the fire, for there are as yet no 
stoves in the colonies. 

When the food is ready — and it probably consists of corn- 
meal mush or corn bread in some form, beans, pork, or game 
from the woods — it is all put into wooden bowls or trenchers, 
and set on a rough table. Everybody eats out of wooden 
plates, or, if the family is well off, out of shining pewter plat- 
ters, and since there are no forks, everybody must eat with the 
fingers. There is plenty of food, and hard work has made 
hearty appetites. 

The talk is about the governor, and the ships coming over 
from England, or about the fishing and the game to be had ; 
then about the farm and the crops for next year, the corn, 
and the Indians that have been giving trouble. 

Perhaps the family will drink a little cider or home-brewed 
beer, and crack some nuts that the children have gathered 
from the woods. After a short while the fire is covered 
over with ashes to keep it aHve, for there are no matches to 
light another one, and everybody goes to bed early, perhaps 
sleeping on dry hemlock boughs instead of mattresses. 

As the country prospered, however, better homes were 
built, of two stories, with glass windows, and painted. Fur- 
niture was brought over from England, and the wealthy 
merchants of New England surrounded themselves with 
the comforts their fathers had known in the old country. 
Some of these houses were even mansions in their proportions, 
where gay parties, balls, and receptions were given. 

In Virginia the rich planters' homes were built on the 
slopes leading down to the rivers, where often Virginia 
the planters owned their own wharves, to which mansions 
ships came to load and unload. These mansions were tall 
white houses, with wide halls and great verandas. 



156 



American History 



Here the planters lived in princely fashion. There were 
log cabins near by for the slaves, stables for fine horses, 
kennels for dogs, houses for overseers, and hundreds of 
broad, rich acres in every direction. Inside were rich fur- 
niture from England, carpets on the floors, silver and glass 
for the table, and an abounding hospitality. 

There were few inns and taverns to be found along the 
roads, and those were of so bad a sort that the hospitable 




A Colonial Mansion in Virginia 



planters invited all travelers into their homes. It is said 
that some of the planters stationed negro servants at the 
gates along the highways to invite travelers to come in and 
take a meal or spend the night. 

The planters themselves always cordially welcomed the 
stranger, were glad to get his news from other towns, put 
before him the best food and wine, and gave him the' best 
bed in the house. In this way Southern hospitality and a 
Virginia welcome became proverbial. 

In the early days of America the cities were small and the 
people had but few of the comforts of modern times. The 



Life in the Colonies 157 

streets were dirty and badly paved, or not paved at all, and 
were at first unlighted, since nobody was expected to be abroad 
after dark. New York at first adopted the custom Life in the 
of lighting the streets by making the occupant of "*^®^ 
every seventh house hang out a pole on which was a lantern 
and candle. The watchman on his first night round cried out 
*' Lantern and candle. Hang out your light." 

The watchman was called the rattler watch, because he 
carried a large rattle to frighten any thieves. He also carried 
a long staff and a lantern to assist belated citizens to their 
houses. All night long the watch called out the hour, such 
as "Midnight and all's well," or "One o'clock and cloudy 
skies," so that the citizens in bed could tell the hour and 
weather. 

In all the towns each family had buckets made of leather, 
and marked with the owner's name. These buckets were set 
ready for use in case of fire anywhere in the village. As soon 
as an alarm was given, every man grabbed his bucket and 
ran to the fire. On reaching the fire a double line was formed, 
leading from the fire to the nearest well or pond or stream. 
The buckets were filled with water and passed up one line, 
and after being emptied on the fire, the empty ones were 
passed down the other line. Thus a constant supply of 
water was, carried up to the fire. After the fire was over, every 
man found his bucket and made his way home. 

3. OCCUPATIONS, DRESS, SPORTS 

The occupations of the colonists were mainly farming, fish- 
ing, and traiding. Of course, there were a few small factories 
and shops for making furniture, clothes, shoes, and other 
articles the people needed, but as a rule most of the supplies 
the colonists used were brought from England. 



158 American History 

In New England, and the Northern colonies generally, the 
farms were small. The people raised corn, beans, squash, 
Industries in and Other vegetables. Fishing and shipbuilding 
New England occupied most of the attention of the people. 
This called for shipbuilders, carpenters, ropemakers, sail- 
makers, and stores for ship supplies. Fishing vessels went 
out for codfish, and larger ships went in search of whales 
for oil and whalebone. 

These ships, loaded with lumber, dried fish, whale oil, 
furs, and corn, traded along the coasts as far as the West 
Indies, and even sailed to Europe. The ships returned with 
tobacco, sugar, cotton, molasses, from the Southern ports, 
and furniture, clothing, tools, hats, carpets, and other 
necessary supplies from Europe. 

In New York the people found the fur trade to be the 
most profitable. The old Dutch colonists made friends with 
, ^ ^ . . the Indians easily, and were not far from the 

Industnes in •' 

New York trading posts on the St. Lawrence River. In 
andPennsyi- Pennsylvania there were great fields of grain. 

vania , , . 

The Dutch had wandered into this section, had 
found the land fertile, had cultivated large areas of corn and 
wheat, and built fine mills, so that the grain from other 
colonies was often sent there to be ground. 

In the Southern colonies the people were almost entirely 
farmers. Tobacco, rice, indigo, and corn were the principal 
Industries in products. The farms were large, negro slaves 
the South ^gj.g cheap and readily bought from the slave 
ships, the climate was mild and the weather pleasant nearly 
all the time. 

As far as clothes were concerned, many of the pioneers 
had to depend upon their guns to give them fur to wear 
instead of cloth. Breeches made of deerskin, moccasins for 



Life in the Colonies 159 

the feet, hats made of beaver skin or raccoon skin, were 
commonly worn. At first there were laws against 
wearing fine clothes, but after a while the wealthy 
insisted on bringing in rich silks and laces from England for 
their wives. 

Even men sometimes wore fine embroidered clothes, espe- 
cially when they went to receptions or on great occasions. 
The women wore high-heeled shoes, hoop skirts, and some- 
times masks of cloth and velvet to protect their complexion 
from the sun. Among the rich people there was almost as 
much style and expense of dress as there was in England. 

In the old days there was not much time for sports. Life 
was too hard for much diversion, and the Puritan idea of 
severe living gave no thought for pleasure. 
There were sports of the woods, such as hunt- 
ing wolves and bears, which when caught were sometimes 
tied to a stake and made to fight dogs for the amusement of 
the crowd. 

On cold moonhght nights a load of codfish heads would 
be placed by the side of a fence or a wall, and hunters would 
hide near by to kill the prowling foxes. Shooting at a mark 
for a prize was a great diversion. To be the best shot in 
a town was no easy matter, where every man had to be a 
marksman to protect his home from Indians and provide his 
family with food. 

So far as dancing, card-playing, and theater-going were 
concerned, these were severely frowned upon by the New 
England people for a long time. Such pleasures were not 
proper for young men and maidens. 

Later on, however, we hear of parties being given, and in 
some of the old papers we read of balls in New England 
where the young people danced until late hours. At these 



i6o American History 

balls or receptions the men wore their finest clothes, and the 
women wore silks and brocade almost stiff enough to stand 
alone. 

In the Southern Colonies the spirit of pleasure was freer, 
and life was not so severe. The planters generally had good 
Pleasures in horses, and fox-hunting was a favorite sport, 
the South ^ pack of fine dogs was sent after a fox, the 
riders on horses following them for many miles, through 
woods and fields, until the fox was caught and killed. Horse- 
racing was popular, since many planters raised valuable stock 
and prided themselves on the speed and endurance of their 
thoroughbred horses. 

In the better class of Southern homes there were often 
scenes of great gayety. There was much feasting, dancing, 
and fine dressing, while family and friends gathered from far 
and near to celebrate some festival of the year or some happy 
occasion in the family. 

The people of New York followed the holiday habit of 
Holland, and the Dutch seasons of rejoicing were frequent 
Dutch and joyous occasions. It is to them that we owe 

holidays many of the pleasures of Christmas and the hang- 

ing up of stockings for the visits of Santa Claus. They 
celebrated New Year's Day, with visits to friends and with 
feasting and drinking. Then came St. Valentine's Day, 
Easter celebrations, May Day and dancing around the May- 
pole, in all of which the happy, thrifty Dutch set the colonists 
a good example of simple, homely happiness. 

4. LAWS, TRAVEL, CUSTOMS 

Our forefathers had many laws and customs that seem 
curious to us nowadays. There were laws against lying, 
against talking too much, against staying away from church, 



Life in the Colonies 



i6i 



against fine clothes that the wearer could not afford, against 
drinking too much — though we must add that those laws 
were not always enforced. 

If a man was guilty of telHng a lie, his 
tongue was caught by a spHt stick, 
and he was stood up for people 
to laugh at. If a woman was 
proved to be a scolding, cross- 




The Stocks 

natured person, she was put on a 
ducking-stool at one end of a long plank, 
and ducked in the river. If a man was 
shown to be a drunkard, he was often 
obliged to wear a big D of red cloth 
hung around his neck or sewed to his 
clothes. 

Set up in public places were the 
pillory and the stocks. If any person 
Pillory and was convicted of break- 
stocks jj^g ^Q laws, he could -, 

be ordered into the pillory or into _ -^^ 

the stocks, where he was quite 

helpless. The boys and men who 

passed by could throw rotten eggs at him, and the girls and 

women could laugh at him, until the officers of the town were 

satisfied that he had been punished enough. 

All hangings were pubUc, and often great crowds came to 
see the unhappy scene. The streets were filled with people 




The Pillory 



I 62 



American History 



from many miles around, speeches were made, sermons 

delivered, and hanging day was equal to the circus day of 

later times. 

Our forefathers had no elegant railroad cars or fine roads, 

as we have at the present day, but contented themselves 

with the rude and slow stagecoach that went 
Travel . . , ^ 

from one place to another. The roads were 

bad, especially in winter, and often everybody in the stage- 
coach had to get out and walk uphill, or help pull the wheels 

out of a rut or deep 



mud hole. Nobody 
traveled for pleas- 
ure in those days. 
A lumbering 
stagecoach ran 
from New York 
to Philadelphia 
once a week at a 
rate of three or 
four miles an hour. 
When in 1776 the 
trip was made in 
two days, it was thought so wonderful that the stagecoach 
was called the ''flying machine." 

Those who could, always rode horseback, traveling in 
small companies for protection. If the journey could be 
made by water, a sailing vessel or rowboat was used. The 
inns along the road were poor affairs, of rough accommo-r 
dations and uncomfortable. Where we now go comfortably 
in a few hours in a railroad train, our ancestors spent manyj 
weary, disagreeable days. 

The mail was carried on horseback. The charge for 




Our Forefathers Traveled by Stagecoach 



Life in the Colonies 



163 



Witchcraft 



letter was often as high as twenty-five cents, and but few 
letters were written. The postman came irregularly, and 
when a person wrote to a distant friend there was no telling 
how long it would take to get a reply. 

The farmers who Hved along the roads were very hos- 
pitable to travelers, and no one was ever turned away or 
denied a night's lodg- 
ing. Their cordial re- 
ception was the only 
thing that relieved the 
weariness of a journey. 

One of the strangest 
and saddest things in 
the early 
history of 
the country was the 
belief in witches. If a 
person had a fit, or if 
the cattle died, or if 
the crops failed, the 
people said, ''A witch 
did it." If anybody 
acted curiously, espe- 
cially an old man or woman, or a deformed person, he was 
at once accused of being a witch. 

This silly craze became worse in Salem, Massachusetts, in 
1692 than at any other place or time. The least circumstance 
was sufficient for an accusation. A girl of fourteen years of 
age accused the laundress of stealing some of the linen. The 
motljer of the laundress, who was an old woman, came and 
abused the girl, after which the child fell into fits. One 
of her brothers and two of her sisters likewise had fits. 




The Witchcraft Delusion Reached Its Height 
IN Salem, Mass., in 1692 



164 American History 

The old woman was accused of being a witch and was 
hanged. 

Many persons were persuaded to confess they were witches. 
Several hundred were tried in the courts, and the jails became 
full. The people were almost crazy on the subject. Persons 
of high rank and of good famiHes were pointed out as witches, 
even one of the judges, the wife of the governor, and the wife 
of one of the ministers, being accused. 

Nineteen of the accused were pubHcly hanged before the 
people came to their senses and saw how foolish they had 
been. Then the jails were opened and the poor prisoners set 
free. Since that time there has been no hanging of witches 
in our country, and everybody knows there never was nor 
ever will be such a thing as a witch. If this had been known 
in those days it would have saved the Hves of nineteen per- 
sons, and avoided a great deal of folly and misery. 

We should not neglect the story of the pirates who roamed 
the seas in the early days, destroying ships, capturing car- 
goes, and murdering sailors. The New England 

Pirates . 

people, as we have seen, were a seagomg people. 
Their ships went back and forth, carrying and bringing rich 
merchandise. Some of these ships tried to evade paying 
duties on their cargoes. They tried to smuggle in their goods 
by landing at some hidden creek or river, or on some deserted 
part of the shore. These smugglers and pirates became so bad 
that the honest ship dealers and owners complained loudly. 

The governor of New York sent out Captain WilHam Kidd 
to put down the sea robbers. The captain, however, pre- 
tended not to see any pirates; and, indeed, he became one 
himself. For a while he was the terror of the seas. When 
he came back to New York he was arrested and sent to Lon- 
don, where he was tried and hanged. 



Life in the Colonies 165 

Along the North Carolina coasts were the favorite haunts 
of pirates. One of the most famous pirates was named 
Blackbeard. He had a ship that was swift, and 

. ■ Blackbeard 

men that were daring. He would attack small 

vessels, rifle their cargoes, kill everybody on board, and sink 

the ship. 

A Virginia ship went after him, and a desperate hand-to- 
hand fight took place. All the pirates were killed or wounded. 
Blackbeard himself was slain, his head was cut off and hung 
from the bowsprit of the victorious ship. After a few years 
all the pirates were captured or run off from the Southern 
coasts, and from that time on no further trouble arose from 
that source to annoy the trade of the colonists. 

5. SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES IN THE COLONIES 

Schools were established early in every colony, but they 
were usually private schools attached to the church, in which 
the' teaching of the Bible and of good morals was the main 
purpose. 

In 1636 the General Court of Massachusetts voted £400 
to establish a school to educate the English and Indians in 
*' knowledge and godliness." Two years later the Harvard 
Rev. John Harvard died, leaving the school a College 
legacy of books and money. For him the school was named 
Harvard College. The town in which it was situated was 
called Cambridge from the Enghsh town of the same name. 
So great was the interest in this college that at one time every 
family in Massachusetts gave something for its support. 

The next college to be established was William wniiam and 
and Mary College in Virginia in 1693. The ^^^ 
colonists raised £2500, and a charter was received from, 
the king and queen of England for whom the college was 



1 66 American History 

named. It had a large influence upon the life of colonial 
Virginia. Wilhamsburg, where it was located, became the 
capital of the colony, and a splendid society grew up under 
the patronage of the governor and the college. 

Other colleges were founded from time to time until at the 
close of the French and Indian War most of the great colleges 
and universities of New England and the Middle Colonies had 
been established. 

In 1647, Massachusetts made the beginning of a pubhc 
school system by requiring each town of fifty families to 
support an elementary school, and each town of a 
schools of hundred families to support a school of higher 
Massachu- grade. The teachers were employed and paid 
by the people, and were required to teach all 
children who came to them. Just before the Revolution, the 
town was divided into districts, in each of which was a public 
school, to be taught by college graduates or by those to whom 
the ministers gave certificates. The selectmen were required 
to see that the schools were taught and that the children 
attended. 

There were no public schools in the Southern and Middle 
Colonies, but private schools were widely established. Fre- 
quently these were taught by clergymen. The rich planters 
of Virginia, Maryland, and other Southern Colonies educated 
their children in England. The great mass of the people, 
however, throughout the country had but little opportunity 
to get an education, for the schools were poorly equipped, 
books were hard to get, and the school term was short. 
Books and There were few books for the people to read, 

newspapers g^j^^^ public libraries were rare. Books had to be 
brought all the way from England and only the wealthy could 
afford to own them, or had sufficient education to read 



Life in the Colonies 



167 



them. It was a matter of note that one wealthy Virginia 
planter had a Hbrary of three thousand volumes. 

A printing press was brought to Massachusetts in 1639, 
but it was a crude affair and was worked by hand. The 
first newspaper was issued in Boston in 1704, others fol- 
lowed slowly but they were all small and poorly printed, 
^J— "^ 



k 





A New England Primer 



and contained little news. The main contents were adver- 
tisements for runaway slaves, or bits of news from England, 
or the arrival of cargoes, and occasionally an essay on some 
moral or poHtical subject. At the beginning of the Revolu- 
tion there were only thirty-seven newspapers in all the 
colonies, none of them dailies, with a combined weekly 
circulation of about five thousand copies. 

We have learned that many of the colonies in America were 
founded to secure religious freedom. Naturally then the 
early colonists were very strict on the subject of religion. The 



i68 



American History 



minister was held in the highest regard by the people, for they 
were men of great piety, and generally of profound learning. 
The greatest of the New England ministers was Jonathan 
Edwards, whose work on the "Freedom of the Will" is one 
of the few books that have come down to us from colonial 
times. 

The church, or meeting-house, was the finest building in 
the town. At first oiled paper was used in the windows. 
The meeting- When glass came it was set in with nails instead 
house Qf putty. Since there were few if any news- 

papers, all sorts of signs were put up on the meeting-house 




Pilgrims Going to Church 



doors and walls, — notices of town meetings, marriages, new 
laws, sales of cattle and farms. 

On the outer walls were often nailed the bloody heads of 
wolves that had been killed, for which a reward was to be 
paid. On the church green were the pillory, stocks, and 
whipping posts, and a long row of hitching posts for the 
horses, as nearly everybody came on horseback. 

There were various ways of calling the people to church, 



Life in the Colonies 



169 



such as the beating of a drum, the blowing of a horn or a shell, 
the raising of a flag, the firing of a gun, and occasionally the 
ringing of a church bell. In very early times every man went 
to church with his gun, ready loaded, and set it down by the 
pew, to have it handy should the Indians attack. 

Inside the church the seats were rough benches, or pews 
with high backs that one could hardly see over. The pulpit 
was very high, so that those in the pews could see the preacher, 
though they could not very well 
see one another. The men sat on 
one side of the church and the 
women on the other. 

The boys were always required 
to sit on the pulpit or gallery stairs 
where they could be closely watched 
by the tithingman. The churches 



were not heated, and in winter 




Pulpit of Old South Meeting- 
house 



time it was a hard matter to keep 

warm during the long service. The 

women often brought fur bags to 

put their feet in, and the men 

brought their dogs to put their feet 

on. When the dogs made too much noise they had to be 

put out. Sometimes there were foot stoves which could be 

carried by hand and which contained Kve coals. These were 

very comfortable and serviceable for warming cold feet. 

The sermons were usually long and dull. Sometimes the 
preacher, who was often the only warm one in the house, 
went on for two or three hours, and everybody 
became very tired. There was a tithingman, 
or captain of the watch, whose business it was to look out 
for sleepers. 



The service 



k 



I/O American History 

He had a long stick with a rabbit's foot on one end and a 
rabbit's tail on the other. If one of the boys or men became 
sleepy and nodded, the tithingman would rap him sharply 
over the head with one end of the stick. If an old lady 
became sleepy and nodded, the tithingman must tickle her 
nose with the rabbit's tail to keep her awake. 

Services were held morning and afternoon, and at the 
noon intermission, if the weather was cold, everybody would 
hasten to the near-by tavern, or to a neighbor's house, and sit 
by a big fire until the time for the afternoon service. 

Sunday was strictly observed. Any unseemly conduct 
was punished by a fine or by a whipping. Everybody was 
Observance forbidden to fish, shoot, sail or row a boat,^dance, 
of Sunday jump, or do any work on the farm. The use of 
tobacco near any meeting-house was also forbidden. 

Sunday began at sundown on Saturday and lasted until 
sundown on Sunday. Everybody was required to go to 
church. In Virginia in the early times, half an hour before 
service, the captain of the watch stationed sentinels, and 
then searched all the houses to see that everybody was on 
the way to church. 

6. SERVANTS AND SLAVES IN THE COLONIES 

Among those who early came to America, in response to a 
demand for servants and laborers so much needed in the New 
Indentured World, was a class of white servants known as 
servants ' ' indentured servants . ' ' They were generally poor 

white boys or girls, or even men and women, who could not 
pay for their passage and were bound to their masters for a 
number of years, by written agreements, called "indentures." 

When they arrived in America their masters paid their 
passage money. These servants generally served three to 



Life in the Colonies 



171 



five years, during which time their masters had to furnish 
them with proper food and clothing. After their term of serv- 
ice was over, their masters gave them small tracts of land. 




Kidnapping a Man for the American Colonies 

So great was the need for servants, that even criminals 
were sent over and sold into service to farmers 
and small manufacturers to pay for their passage, 
but this order of the Enghsh authorities did not meet with 



Criminals 



172 American History 

much favor in the colonies, for criminals were as dangerous 
in New England as they were in London. 

Worse than that, there were gangs of kidnappers in England 
who 'would seize laboring men, vagabonds, and even children 
out of the alleys and along the wharves of Enghsh towns, 
and hurry them on board ships to be sold into service when 
they reached America. 

Generally no questions were asked as to where the servants 
came from or how they were procured. In the majority of 
cases those who were kidnapped and brought over were 
content with their lot, for they were accustomed to hardship 
and were better off in America than in the streets and by- 
ways of London and the English coast towns. 

There is no means of knowing exactly how many criminals 
and vagabonds were brought to America, but it is estimated 
that there were more than ten thousand, most of these being 
sold into Maryland and the Middle Colonies. 

Many of these indentured servants, and about all the 
criminals, were thriftless and worthless. When their term of 
service expired, and they were free to do as they pleased, 
they generally pleased to do as little as possible. They 
thus laid the foundations of a lower and criminal order from 
which all the colonies suffered. 

We have already seen that the first negro slaves were 

brought to Virginia in 161 9. This was the beginning of 

negro slavery in America, but it soon spread over 

Ncsro sl3.V6s <-j •/ i. 

all the colonies, until every one of them had 
some negro slaves. 

New England had the fewest slaves of any of the colonies, 
and these were mostly house servants. The Dutch in New 
York had slaves, but negro slaves were far more numerous 
in Virginia and the other Southern Colonies. The negroes 



Life in the Colonies 173 

coming from Africa, where the climate is warm, were not 
accustomed to cold weather, and could not work outdoors 
in the hard winter of the Northern Colonies. On the other 
hand, the climate of the South was like that of their own 
native country ; the work was farming, for which the negro 
is adapted, and the kind of work required physical strength 
more than skill. 

Thus the Northern Colonies did not find negro-slave labor 
profitable and the Southern Colonies found it very much so. 
At one time there were twice as many slaves in South Carohna 
as there were white people. 

The slave trade became a profitable industry. Ships were 
built in England for the very purpose of going to the coast 
of Africa, buying the negro prisoners that had 

/. , ^ f, . . , Slave trade 

been captured m the wars, and bringing them to 
America for sale. Even the ship captains of New England 
engaged in this business, and after selHng their cargoes in 
London, it was their practice to cruise along the African 
coast and get a shipload of unhappy negroes to bring to 
America. 

It is said that in ten years from 1680 to 1690, nearly fifty 
thousand negroes were thus brought to America. All of 
them were bought at the ships' sides by slave dealers, who 
afterwards sold them to the farmers for laborers. 

In New York in 171 2 there was an uprising of the slaves, 
and again in 1741. To put down these insurrections the 
negroes were treated harshly. At one time 

. , 1.1 Insurrections 

twenty-tour and at another time thirty-three 

were put to death. Nineteen of them were burned alive. 

In 1740 there was an insurrection of the negroes in South 

Carohna, which was put down with much bloodshed and 

cruelty. 



174 American History 

In this way there grew up in the Southern Colonies a great 
slave system. The system continued long after slavery was 
abohshed in New England, and was the foundation of a social 
order in the South, and the occasion of a long and bitter 
quarrel and war, of which we shall learn later on in our 
history. 

TOPICS 

Colonial Government. Condition of the colonies. Cities. The 
settlements on the seaboard ; in the interior. The three forms of govern- 
ment ; difference of each. Council and assembly. Character of the 
governors ; relation to the people. Conditions in New England settle- 
ments. The New England towns. The New England church. Con- 
ditions in Virginia. County form of government. Court days. 

The Homes of the Colonists. Homes of the pioneers. Log cabins. 
Window lights ; floors; lighting. Inside cheer; occupations. The food; 
eating utensils ; the conversation ; the family beverage ; sleeping ar- 
rangements. Improvements in the houses. Virginia mansions. Inns 
and taverns. Hospitality. Life in the cities. The night watchman. 
Fire protection. 

Occupations, Dress, Sports. Main occupations. New England in- 
dustries. Fishing vessels. Industries in New York. Dutch in Pennsyl- 
vania. Industries in the South. The farmers. Clothing of the 
pioneers ; of the wealthy ; women's dress. Sports ; hunting wolves and 
bears ; catching foxes ; shooting ; dancing. Pleasure in the Southern 
Colonies; fox-hunting; horse-racing; gayety. Holidays among the 
Dutch. 

Laws, Travel, Customs. Severe laws. Punishment for lying; for 
being a scold; for being a drunkard. Pillory and stocks. Hanging days. 
Travel by stagecoach ; condition of roads. Stagecoach in early days ; 
other means of travel ; carrying the mail ; postal charges. Hospitality 
to travelers. Witchcraft ; craze in Salem ; instances of witchcraft ; 
results ; passing of the craze. Smuggling and piracy. Captain Kidd ; 
his piracy and trial. Blackbeard and his fate. 

Schools and Churches in the Colonies. Beginning of Harvard Col- 
lege. Cambridge. Interest of the people. William and Mary College. 
Beginning of public schools in Massachusetts ; the teacher. Schools in 



Life in the Colonies 175 

Southern and Middle Colonies. Books and libraries. The first news- 
papers ; contents. Ministers in the colonies. Jonathan Edwards. 
The meeting-house ; the outer walls ; the green ; calling the people ; 
carrying the guns. Inside the church ; the seating ; the long service ; 
keeping warm ; the sermons ; keeping the people awake ; noon inter- 
mission. Observing Sunday. 

Servants and Slaves in the Colonies. Indentured servants ; inden- 
tures ; service and reward. Criminals ; kidnappers ; number of crimi- 
nals and vagabonds in America ; their character and influence. Negro 
slaves ; slaves in New England ; slaves in the South. Slave trade. 
English captains ; number of slaves sold. Insurrections. Slave system 
of the South. 

SUBJECTS FOR STUDY 

Compare the town meeting of New England with the court days in 
Virginia. What was the influence of the pioneer home on the character 
of the lirst settlers in America? What influence has locality upon the 
industry of a people ? What influence have the Dutch had upon the life 
of America? Discuss public punishments of the olden times and their 
influence upon the observers. Discuss the folly of the belief in witchcraft. 
What influence have the great colleges and the public-school system 
had upon the character of the people of New England? What effect 
did slavery have upon the life of the people in the South ? 

COMPOSITION 

Write an account of the trial of a witch in Salem. 
Write an account of attending church in colonial times. 
Write the supposed story of a negro who was bought in Africa by 
the captain of a slave ship and sold to a planter in America. 

Collateral Reading. " Snow-Bound," by Whittier. 



Chapter VII 
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

1. GEORGE III AND THE AMERICAN COLONIES 

When England planted colonies in America, or agreed 
to people coming here for that purpose, the king had in mind 
only the riches to be gained for England. He cared little for 
the colony; it was planted for the benefit of the mother 
country. Therefore, certain laws were passed by Parliament 
from time to time which were designed to help the mother 
country at the expense of the colonies. 

The first of these laws regulated trade, and were called 
Navigation Acts. By these laws the colonies were required 
Navigation to trade with England only. The merchants of 
Acts America could not sell their tobacco, rice, indigo, 

furs, lumber, or anything they raised, made, or bought, to 
any other than English merchants. 

Then again the people of the colonies were not allowed to 
buy from any merchants except the English merchants. 
All the French silk and the China teas had to be brought to 
America in English vessels, so that the English merchants 
could make their profit on them. 

The second unjust law was the one regulating manu- 
factures. It was against the law for the colonists to make 
anything out of wool and sell it in any other 

Manufactures ^, ^ .. , , , 

colony. The English government wanted the 
colonists to raise sheep and send the wool to England to be 
made into cloth. It was also against the law to put up iron- 

176 



The Revolutionary War 177 

works in America. The English wanted the colonists to dig 
the iron out of the ground and prepare it in foundries for 
manufacture, then send it to England to be made into 
plows, axes, knives, and other implements. 

It was also against the law for the colonists to make hats, 
although there was plenty of fur on this side of the ocean of 
which to make them. The English government said that 
the colonists should get the fur and the English hatters would 
make the hats. 

One of the most oppressive of these laws was that of taxing 
certain articles, such as sugar and molasses, of which the 
colonists used a great deal, and on which they 
had to pay a duty before they could bring them 
into the country. Every man who used a gallon of molasses 
had to pay a tax equal to ten cents. 

The colonists began to evade the laws whenever they could. 
Their own ships would trade with the West Indies and get 
foreign produce and smuggle it into the country. 
So long as the British officials did not find it out, 
the people did not care. In fact, they rather encouraged it, 
and if anybody was caught, the judges were very easy in their 
punishment. So the warehouses and stores of the colonists 
were often full of smuggled goods for sale. 

When George III became king in 1760, he determined to 
make the colonies pay more revenue to the home government 
by having the Navigation Acts strictly observed. He also 
decided to maintain a standing army in America, and to lay 
a tax upon the colonies. The first thing to do was to prevent 
smugghng. 

The custom-house officials tried to put a stop to smuggling, 
by searching everybody's house. They secured search war- 
rants known as *' writs of assistance," which allowed them 



178 American History 

to enter any man's house and seize anything they thought 
had been smuggled into the country. With these writs the 
Writs of officers went about Boston, breaking into the ware- 

Assistance houses, tearing down doors, overturning boxes, 
and searching for goods, which they seized at pleasure, 
whether the goods had been smuggled or not. The custom- 
house officers were creatures of the king. 

This made the people angry, you may be sure. They 
were almost ready to mob the officers, but they finally decided 
to make a case in law. They employed a young Boston 
lawyer, named James Otis, to plead their cause in the courts. 
He spoke for five hours in the defense of the principle that 
Great Britain had no right to tax us without our consent, or 
take our money in any way without permission. 

This speech produced so great an effect that the judges 
were afraid to decide against him. They gave no decision 
speech of at all, which was the same as a victory for Otis ; 
James Otis j-^^^ there were no more writs of assistance used 
in Boston or elsewhere. The battle cry of the Revolution 
became, ''Taxation without representation is tyranny." 

We must not get the idea that the American colonists were 
opposed to the mother country in feeling. They loved the 
Old England from which their fathers came. It was a proud 
boast to have been in London, and to have seen any of the 
great Englishmen of the day. The colonists had fought for the 
mother country, and were willing to die for her interests, but 
they wanted to be treated as subjects and not as dependents. 
George III ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^e English people so much as the 

and his English king, George III, and his friends, who 

had caused all this trouble. He had come to the 
throne in 1760, when he was twenty- tWo years of age, and he 
was nearly forty when the Revolution began. He believed 



The Revolutionary War 179 

in the rights of kings to have their own way and that the will 
of the people counted for nothing against the will of the king. 
When he ascended the throne, his mother said to him, 
^'George, be a king," but instead of being the right kind of 
king he became a very foolish one. 

Instead of choosing the wisest and best men in the kingdom 
to be his advisers, he turned to the weaker men who flattered 
him and who were ready to do his bidding. It was always 
one of ''the king's friends" who proposed in Parliament the 
obnoxious measures against America. Finally, the king 
succeeded in getting a prime minister, Lord North, who 
was quite willing for the king to have his way in all things, 
so much so that the king really became his own prime 
minister. 

To see how poorly the great mass of the people of England 
was represented in Parliament, we should know that when 
George III became king there was a most unequal Rotten 
distribution of seats in the House of Commons. ^Joroughs 
No changes had been made in two hundred years, of the allot- 
ment of seats according to the number of population. Some 
large cities that had grown up had no representatives at all, 
while some old and small places had several representatives. 
One town named Old Sarum went on having members of 
Parliament long after it ceased to have any inhabitants at all. 
Such towns were called "rotten boroughs." 

The result was that many members represented only a 
handful of voters and that many seats were bought and sold, 
and some were given away as favors. This made a Parlia- 
ment that did not represent the great body of the people 
at all, and made it easy for the king to secure such laws as 
he and ''his friends" chose. He began to rule his colonies 
in America by royal orders, which if not obeyed were to be 



i8o American History 

enforced by military power. Colonial assemblies were dis- 
solved, unusual places of meeting were appointed, lands were 
granted or taken away, and in many other ways the colonists 
were treated without consideration. 

The colonists were not without friends in England and sym- 
pathizers in Parliament. There were many who stoutly 
English maintained that the colonists were right in 

friends of Opposing the king and that a law oppressing 
t e CO onies ^^ English subject was a bad law, though it was 
directed against a colony. There were some voices in Par- 
Hament who spoke out in their defense. One great English- 
man, William Pitt, who was the Earl of Chatham, declared 
in a speech in the House of Lords, ''This kingdom has no 
right to lay a tax upon the colonies. I rejoice that America 
has resisted." For this speech he was loudly cheered as 
he walked through the streets of London, for the cause of the 
colonists in America was felt to be the cause of English sub- 
jects and people everywhere. 

2. FIRST ACTS OF RESISTANCE 

Four years after James Otis made his great speech in 
Boston against the writs of assistance. Parliament decided to 
put a new kind of tax on the American people. A law was 
passed in 1765 called the Stamp Act. 

This Act required everybody to use stamped paper for all 
licenses, all bonds and deeds to property, all newspapers, 
The stamp books, and printed matter. This paper was 
^^* printed in England, stamped, and brought to 

America to be sold to the colonists. The stamped paper 
was sold at from one cent to fifty dollars, according to the 
purpose for which it was to be used. 

The Stamp Act required that persons who married should 



The Revolutionary War 1 8 1 

buy a stamped marriage license or they were not legally 
married, but the ministers paid no attention to the laws and 
people were married as before. This Act required all deeds 
to property to be written on stamped paper, but the lawyers 
agreed that deeds were good without the stamps. In fact, the 
people again refused to be taxed without their consent. They 
flatly refused to buy any of the stamped paper. 

While the Stamp Act was being debated in Parliament, the 
cause of the colonists had some eloquent defenders. Colonel 
Barre, who had fought side by side with Wolfe at Protest of 
Quebec, replied to the statement that the colonies ^°^- ^^"^ 
were children, '^ planted by our care, nourished by our indul- 
gence, and protected by our arms," by exclaiming with indig- 
nant eloquence : 

'' They, planted by your care ! No, your oppression planted 
them in America. They, nourished by your indulgence ! 
They grew up by your neglect of them. They, protected 
by your arms ! Those sons of liberty have nobly taken up 
arms in your defense." 

For these expressions he was loudly applauded by the 
advocates of the rights of the colonists, and the expression 
Sons of Liberty became a rallying cry of the patriots in America 
and their friends in England. 

Among those in America who opposed the Stamp Act 
was the great orator, Patrick Henry, of Virginia. When 
the news of the Act arrived, he was a member of 

- _ TT 1 r Patrick Henry 

the House of Burgesses. He tore a leaf out 
of the back of an old law book and wrote on it a resolution de- 
claring that England had no right to lay taxes on the colonies. 
He then had the resolution read to the members, and began 
to speak. It was one of the greatest speeches ever delivered 
in America. 



l82 



American History 



At the close of the speech he said in tones of thunder, 
^' Caesar had his Brutus ; Charles I his Cromwell ; and George 

III " When he reached this point, as it was not lawful 

to say anything against the king, the members rose to their 
feet in terror of what might happen and cried out, ''Treason ! 
Treason!" Henry only paused a moment and turned on 
them, saying, ''George III may profit by their example. If 



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Patrick Henry Makes His Famous Speech in the House or Burgesses, 
Virginia, Denouncing the Stamp Act 



this be treason, make the most of it." The resolution was 
passed by a majority of one vote. 

The British Parliament, seeing the opposition of the colo- 
nies, repealed the Stamp Act in 1766. 

Benjamin Franklin was in England as the agent of the 
Pennsylvania colony. While he was there the Stamp Act 
Franklin in was passed by the British Parliament. Franklin 
England ^^^ strongly opposed to the measure. He told 

the English people that the colonies would never submit to 



The Revolutionary War 



183 



it, that they loved liberty very dearly, and would fight rather 
than surrender their rights as colonists. It was largely through 
his influence that the Stamp Act was repealed. 

During the Revolution he was sent to France to gain the 
friendship of that nation for the colonies. He was very 
Franklin in much Hked by 
Paris the French 

people. He became a 
friend of the king and a 
favorite at the court. He 
was received in his plain 
brown suit, while every- 
body else wore the fashion- 
able court dress of the time. 

Parliament, however, 
was determined to show its 
Tax on tea, power, and in 
®*^' 1767 passed a 

law taxing tea, glass, paper, 
and a few other articles. 
The colonists were opposed 
to this tax also. They had 
not used stamped paper 

and now they resolved not to use tea. The way to avoid the 
tax is not to use the thing taxed. So the people drank sassa- 
fras tea instead of tea from China. This made the English 
merchants angry, for they had no sale for their cargoes. 
From Boston to Savannah the tea ships lay in the harbor, 
but nobody wanted tea, nor anything else that was taxed by 
England. 

The Legislature or Assembly of Massachusetts sent out a 
circular letter to all the other colonies, asserting the rights of 




Benjamin Franklin 



i84 



American History 



the American people and calling for united action against the 
new taxes. When George III heard of this he was furious, 
and ordered Massachusetts to recall the circular letter. This 
Massachusetts refused to do, and the king had the Assembly 
dissolved. Other assembhes in other colonies were treated 




Franklin Attracts Distinguished Attention at the Court of France 



in the same way, until pubHc business was seriously inter- 
rupted. 

George III foolishly tried to enforce the law by arms. 
Accordingly he sent a body of troops to Boston. The people 
of that town held a meeting, and a day was appointed for 
fasting and prayer. The troops were not allowed the use of 
the people's houses, but had to use the Capitol building to 
live in. 

After the troops had been there for a year and a half, a 
body of seven of them had a quarrel one night with some 



The Revolutionary War 



185 



citizens of the town, and, firing into the crowd, killed five 
people and wounded others. This was known as the Boston 
Massacre, and greatly angered the citizens. The Boston 
next day Samuel Adams, one of the leading men Massacre, 
of the colony, called upon the governor and ^^rchs, 1770 
sternly told him to take his soldiers out of town or they 
would be run out by the citizens. By sundown the troops 
had all left, and were on a little island in the harbor. 



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The British Troops in Boston Fire into a Crowd of Citizens 



Samuel Adams is often called the ''Father of the Rev- 
olution." He was a very stern patriot who had little patience 
with the British. When he told the royal governor to remove 
the troops from Boston he shook his finger at him and said, 
''The voice of ten thousand freemen must be respected and 
their demands obeyed." Later Adams said with great satis- 
faction, "I saw his knees tremble and his face grow pale. I 
confess I enjoyed the sight." 

There were tea ships in the harbor of Boston waiting to 



1 86 American History 

unload their tea. There were no people willing to buy, and 
there were many who were determined that the tea should 
Boston Tea ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ landed or stored in the warehouses 
Party, of the town. The people were of one mind. A 

ec. i6, 1773 gj-ga^i^ meeting of the people of Boston was held, 
and speeches were delivered until it grew dark. Some one 
asked, ''I wonder how tea would mix with sea water?" 
Suddenly a whoop as of Indians was heard in the streets. 
Everybody rushed outside and found that some citizens had 
disguised themselves as Indians and were on their way to the 
tea ships. They were going to find out how tea and sea 
water would mix. 

The crowd followed, and when the wharf was reached, the 
disguised citizens climbed aboard the ships, broke open three 
hundred and forty-two chests of tea, and poured it all into 
the ocean. This is called the ''Boston Tea Party." 

Other towns had tea parties. In Charleston the tea was 
stored in damp cellars, left to spoil, or else was sold for the 
public good after the war began. At Annapolis a rich ship 
owner was compelled to set fire to his own ship. The spirit 
of one colony was the spirit of all. America had but one 
voice now, and that was resistance to all forms of injustice 
and tyranny. 

When the news of the way the colonists had treated the 
Measures for tea, especially in Boston, reached England, Parlia- 
retaiiation ment decided to teach the colonies a lesson. To 
do this they passed several measures. 

The first was to close the port of Boston until the tea 
that had been destroyed was paid for. No ships could come 
in or go out. All trade was stopped, and the people had to 
suffer or submit to the laws. The other colonies came to 
the relief of Boston at once. Money, food, and clothing 



The Revolutionary War 187 

poured in from every side, and the people did not suffer. 
The universal cry was, ''The cause of Boston is the cause of 
all." South Carolina sent her message to Boston in these 
ringing words, ''The whole country must be animated with 
one great soul, and all Americans must stand by one another 
even unto death." 

The next measure was to change the charter of Massa- 
chusetts so that all the judges, sheriffs, and other officers 
were to be appointed by the Crown instead of being elected 
by the people. A new military governor. General Thomas 
Gage, was also appointed, but the people paid no attention to 
him, would not pay money into his treasury, and in every way 
ignored him. 

The next measure was to provide that any officers or sol- 
diers who committed murder in the colonies while in discharge 
of their duty, should be sent to England for trial. It was 
thought that this would make them more active, by not leav- 
ing them to be tried by unfriendly juries in America. 

These measures provoked the colonies more and more. 
Sympathy for Massachusetts was expressed everywhere. A 
Congress of delegates from the colonies met in pirgt Conti- 
Philadelphia in 1774. It was the first Con- nentai Con- 
tinental Congress. All that this Congress could ^^^^^ 
do, however, was to pass resolutions of resistance to the laws, 
and address a petition to the king, setting forth the grievances 
of the American people. 

3. THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE REVOLUTION 

The people of Massachusetts called a provincial Congress 
to meet in Concord. This Congress set to work to gather 
guns, powder, shot, and cannon in readiness for the war 
which they saw was sure to come. General Gage, in Boston, 



i88 



American History 



resolved to capture these stores by secretly sending a body 
of troops to take them before the people knew what he was 
about. On the way to Concord, he also intended to capture 
John Hancock and Samuel Adams, two noted patriots, who 

were at a friend's house 




in Lexington. 

The British soldiers were 
ready to march from Bos- 
ton to Con- Paul Revere' s 
cord, but the "'^^ 
Americans suspected their 
plans and were watching 
them. Across the river a 
patriot, Paul Revere, stood 
mounted and ready. When 
he saw the lantern hung 
up in the church tower, 
a signal that the troops 
had started, he rode off 
into the night on the way 
to Lexington and Con- 
cord, shouting as he thun- 
dered along the roads and 
through the towns, "The 
British are coming!" 
When he came to the house in Lexington where Han- 
cock and Adams were asleep, the man on guard called out 
to him, "Don't make so much noise!" "Noise!" cried 
Revere, "there will be noise enough before long : the regulars 
are coming." Hancock knew Revere's voice and was soon 
up. When he heard what was happening, he and Adams 
quickly proceeded to Philadelphia. 




The First Continental Congress Met at 
Philadelphia in 1774 



The Revolutionary War 



189 



All along the road to Lexington and Concord the people 
rose and armed themselves. When the British reached 
Lexington they found seventy men drawn up and The people 
ready to meet them. Captain John Parker ^^^ aroused 
was commanding them. He had said to his men, ''Don't 
fire unless you are fired upon; but if they mean to have a 



war, let it 



begin 



here." The British commander. Major 




Major Pitcairn, at Lexington, Cried Out, "Disperse, Ye Villains!" 



Pitcairn, on seeing the patriots in hne, drew his pistol, and 
pointing it at them, cried out, "Disperse, ye villains!" 

The soldiers, however, did not move. One of the patriots 
tried to fire his gun, but it flashed and did not go off. The 
British then fired, and several of the Americans were killed. 
After a feeble resistance, Parker retired. 

The British marched on to Concord. When they arrived 
they found that much of the stores had been removed, but 
they began to burn and destroy what was left. 

Everywhere the farmers were gathering, armed with their 



190 



American History 



old muskets and rifles. Crowds had reached Concord, and 
from a neighboring hill they began to shoot at the British 
Battle of soldiers. The British, having done all the damage 

Lexington ^j^ey could, Started back to Lexington. It was 
now broad day and the highway was Hned with the indignant 
patriots. 

Behind every tree and bush, from every stone wall and 
every clump of trees, came a ceaseless rain of bullets. It 

was one long 
ambush, and 
the British soon 
broke into a 
run. The faster 
they ran the 
faster came the 
shots from the 
hidden farmers. 
Nearly three 
hundred British 
were killed or 
captured. When 
those who were left reached Lexington they fell down, com- 
pletely exhausted by their terrible experiences. Thus it was 
that the battle of Lexington, the first battle of the Revolu- 
tion, was fought, April 19, 1775. 

As soon as it was known that the English Parliament 
considered the American colonies in a state of rebellion, the 
TheMeckien- P^opl^ of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, 
burg deciara- held a convention in Charlotte, May, 1775. 
*^°^ Resolutions were passed by those patriotic 

citizens declaring that they were henceforth subject only 
to the Provincial Congress of North Carolina, and to the 




The Revolutionary War 191 

Continental Congress of all the States. These resolutions 
were passed more than a year before the great Declaration 
of Independence. 

News of the battle of Lexington spread like wildfire. 
Soldiers poured in from all over New England. Israel Put- 
nam, an old hero of many Indian wars, was plow- The soldiers 
ing in the fields at his home in Connecticut when gather 
he heard the news. He left the plow in the furrow, saddled 
his horse and rode a hundred miles, almost without stopping, 
to join the army near Boston. In a few days there was an 
army of sixteen thousand men around Boston. Inside the 
town was the British army, ten thousand strong. 

At Philadelphia a second Continental Congress had met 
and chosen John Hancock president. This Congress organ- 
ized all the troops into a Continental Army, and called for 
volunteers from Virginia, New York, and other colonies. 
They also chose George Washington to be Commander-in- 
Chief of the army. He departed immediately for Boston to 
take command. Before he arrived, however, another great 
battle was fought, which is known as the battle of Bunker Hill. 

Two months after the Lexington fight the American 
soldiers around Boston began to fortify Breed's Hill, which 
overlooks Boston and is very near to Bunker Battle of 
Hill. One night in June a thousand men dug Bunker Hill 
trenches there and threw up breastworks to protect them- 
selves. The next day, June 17, 1775, the British moved up 
to take this fort. The Americans had but little powder and 
shot, and their officers told them not to fire until they could 
see the whites of the enemy's eyes. 

On came the British up the hill. When they were within 
a hundred feet of the fort the order to fire was given. The 
Americans rose up and poured a deadly fire right into the 



192 American History 

faces of the British and then dropped behind their breast- 
works. Again this was done, until the British retreated 
twice under the deadly fire. 

On the third attack the ammunition of the Americans 
gave out, and as the British moved up to the fOrt the brave 
patriots met them with clubbed muskets and heavy stones. 

But the Americans were forced to retire, leaving the 
British in possession. They had made a noble fight, and 
the battle of Bunker Hill will long remain in the memory 
of the nation as one of the heroic conflicts of the great war. 

When Washington, who was on his way to Boston, heard 
of the battle of Bunker Hill from a courier who met him, 
he anxiously asked, ''How did the militia stand the fire of 
the British regulars?" ''Well," was the reply. "Then," 
said he, "the liberty of the country is secure." 

The very day the second Continental Congress met, and 

before the battle of Bunker Hill had been fought, Ethan 

Capture of Allen and a few men surprised the British fort 

Fort at Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain. The Com- 

icon eroga ^^^^^qj. q^ ^j^g fQj-^ ^^^ ^ friend of Ethan Allen, 

and when he opened the door he was surprised to see Allen 
there with three hundred soldiers. "By what authority do 
you ask me to surrender?" said he. "In the name of the 
great Jehovah and the Continental Congress," answered 
Allen. He then seized the fort with all its cannon, arms, 
and supplies. 

4. THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR 

Two weeks after the battle of Bunker Hill, George Wash- 
ington arrived near Boston and took command of the troops. 
The ceremony took place under an elm tree in Cambridge, 
a spot that will ever be dear to American hearts. He 



The Revolutionary War 



193 



established his headquarters in a house that afterwards be- 
came the home of the poet Longfellow. Over Washington 
the headquarters proudly floated our first na- takes com- 
tional flag. This flag had thirteen red and white ^^^^ 
stripes, but in place of the stars was displayed the ''Union 
Jack," the British colors. 

Washington commanded only fifteen thousand men — not 
much of an army. These men had almost no guns, were poorly 




Under the Historic Elm Tree at Cambridge, Mass., Washington Assumes 
Command op the Army 



trained, and knew little about the duties of a soldier. It took 
nearly nine months for Washington to drill them, and see that 
they were organized into companies and made ready for actual 
war. The British stayed quietly and comfortably in Boston 
while all this was going on. 

Washington was now ready to attack the British. Fifty 



194 American History 

cannon had been dragged on ox sleds all the way from 
the captured fort of Ticonderoga, and enough powder was 
at hand to load them. Accordingly, in March, 1776, Wash- 
ington seized Dorchester Heights, which overlooks Boston 
on the south. 

When the cannon were in position he sent word to General 
Howe, who had succeeded General Gage in command of the 
•The British British troops, to move out of Boston or be pre- 
leave Boston pared for an attack. When General Howe saw 
the cannon he thought it best to move out. He and his 
army, with about a thousand of the citizens who sympathized 
with the king, and on that account were called ''Tories," 
went on board their ships and sailed away to HaHfax. 

Washington then marched into Boston. He had captured 
the town without losing a man. Everywhere there was 
rejoicing, and Congress voted him a gold medal in honor of 
the event. 

While this was going on, the British in Canada threat- 
ened to move down on the towns in New York. To give 
Expeditions them Something else to think about. General 
into Canada Montgomery of New York marched against 
Montreal and captured it. Benedict Arnold, from Connecti- 
cut, started overland with a thousand men to join Mont- 
gomery in an attack on Quebec. 

Arnold and his men marched through the forests of Maine 
for six dreadful weeks. The food gave out and the soldiers 
suffered severely. Many of them deserted and went back 
to their homes. When the rest reached Quebec they were so 
ragged, footsore, and weak that they were not fit for service. 

Montgomery had a few hundred men. He and Arnold 
stormed the great fortress which Wolfe had captured from 
the French. Montgomery was killed, Arnold was badly 



The Revolutionary War 195 

wounded, and the American army was compelled to retire 
from Canada. 

Several months before Howe evacuated Boston a force 
under the British General Clinton was sent to subdue the 
Southern Colonies. This force reached Charles- ^j^^ British 
ton. When the brave people of that colony attack 
heard of the approach of the enemy, they went ^^*^®^*°^ 
to work building forts. On Sullivan's Island a fort was made 
of palmetto logs and earth, cannon were mounted, and Colonel 
Moultrie was placed in command. 

When the British arrived they attacked the fort, but 
the cannon balls sank into the earth or into the soft palmetto 
wood and did little damage. Colonel Moultrie replied so 
vigorously all day that when night came the British decided 
they could not land. They raised their anchors and sailed 
northward to attaxk New York. The fort has ever since been 
called Fort Moultrie. 

While the battle was in progress, the flagstaff was broken 
by a cannon ball. Sergeant William Jasper, seeing the flag 
fall over the wall, leaped down outside, in the face of a furious 
fire from the enemy, seized the flag, fixed it in its place, and 
returned unharmed. For this brave act he was presented 
with a handsome sword. 

The war had been going on now for a year. It was plain 
to everybody that a long and stubborn conflict was at hand. 
The Americans up to this time had been fighting for their 
rights as colonists and subjects of the British government. 
Even Washington, when he took charge of the army, had no 
idea of fighting for anything else. 

It became evident, however, that the king did not intend 
that the Americans should have their rights as subjects. To 
make matters worse, the king had hired about thirty thousand 



196 



American History 



Hessian or German soldiers to put down what he called 'Hhe 
rebellion in America." When this became known the people 




Sergeant Jasper Leaps upon the Parapet at Fort Moultrie and 
Replaces the Fallen Flag 



of America with one voice declared for independence from 
Great Britain and its unwise king. 

In June, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed 
in Congress, then in session in Philadelphia, that ''these 
united colonies are and of right ought to be free and inde- 
pendent states." John Adams of Massachusetts joined him 
in urging the independence of the colonies. 



The Revolutionary War 



197 



A committee of five was appointed to draw up a Decla- 
ration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson of Virginia wrote 
it. John Adams, of Massachusetts, Benjamin Declaration 
FrankHn, of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman, of ofinde- 
Connecticut, and Robert R. Livingston, of New p^^^^^^® 
York made some suggestions. Thus we see that all parts 
of our country were concerned in the preparation of that 
most famous of Ameri- 
can state papers. 

July 4th, 1776, the 
Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was formally 
adopted. The bell- 
ringer in the belfry 
was in readiness to 
give out the news to 
the people. A boy 
was stationed in the 
hall below to announce 
the vote. The boy 
cried out, "Ring! 
Ring!" The ringer 
pulled the bell rope 
vigorously, and the 
notes of Hberty rang 
out over Philadelphia 
and over the waiting 
crowds below. The 
town went wild with 
joy. People shouted 

and embraced each other, bonfires were built, and proces- 
sions marched through the streets. 




The Members of the Continental Congress 
Sign the Declaration of Independence 



198 



American History 



John Hancock was the first to sign the Declaration of 
Independence. He signed his name in a large, bold hand, "so 
that the king could read it without spectacles," he declared. 
Then the others signed it in order. When Charles Carroll 
came to sign it some one said, "You are safe, for there are 
so many Carrolls in Maryland that the king will not find you." 




Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Where the Declaration of Independence 

Was Signed 



"Then I will make it certain who I am," said he, and wrote 
Charles Carroll of Carroll ton. Benjamin Franklin quaintly 
remarked, "Now we must all hang together, or else most 
assuredly we shall all hang separately." 

The news of the Declaration of Independence was carried 
to all the colonies as fast as possible. However, news traveled 
slowly in those days, and it was not until August loth that 



The Revolutionary War 199 

word reached Georgia, the last of the colonies. The great 
news was hailed everywhere with joy. Bonfires were Hghted, 
parades were formed, and speeches were made in Rejoicing of 
honor of the event. In New York so great was *^® people 
the enthusiasm of the people that they pulled down a leaden 
statue of George III, and melted it into bullets with which to 
fight his soldiers. 

The Declaration was read at the head of the army, and 
from the pulpit and platform. Everywhere, from one end 
of the country to the other, the people rejoiced that they 
were to fight henceforth for their independence as States, 
rather than for their rights as subjects. 

5. TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS OF THE PATRIOTS 

The British, who had moved out of Boston and been de- 
feated at Charleston, now decided to attack New York and 
get control of the Hudson River. They thus hoped to sepa- 
rate New England from the rest of the country. They could 
then move against Boston or Philadelphia as they chose. 

Washington hastened from Boston to New York and made 
ready for the attack. He built two forts on opposite sides of 
the Hudson River, and sank vessels in the channel so that the 
enemy's ships could not move up the river. General Putnam 
was stationed in a fort on Long Island, at Brooklyn Heights. 

The British army, under General Howe, landed on Staten 
Island. They then crossed over to Long Island with a large 
force. General Putnam went out to meet them. Battle of 
A battle was fought August 27, 1776, known as Long island 
the battle of Long Island. The British, however, were too 
strong for Putnam. The little American army was defeated, 
and retired within its fortifications. 

General Howe now thought he could capture the American 



200 



American History 



army. That night a dense fog came up. Under cover of the 
fog and darkness General Washington moved all his men in 
boats across the river. The next morning when the British 
moved up to the fort they found it empty. Washington and 

his army were in New York. 
The British, however, 
planted their cannon on 
Brooklyn Heights and could 
easily command the city, so 
that Washington was obliged 
to leave New York and 
march northward. In this 
way New York fell into the 
hands of General Howe and 
the British troops. 

One of the sad incidents 
of the occasion was the fate 
of Captain Nathan Hale, of 
Connecticut, who 
volunteered to 
enter the British lines and 
find out their plans. He 
dressed as a school teacher, 
went to the British camp as though he were a resident of 
Long Island, and made notes of all he saw. He had gained 
valuable knowledge for Washington, and was on the point of 
taking a boat for New York, when some one recognized him 
and took him prisoner. Of course he was a spy and could 
offer no excuse. It was all in the fortune of war. He should 
not have been in the enemy's lines. He was hanged in a few 
days. His last words were, ''I only regret that I have but 
one life to lose for my country." 




Nathan Hale 



I Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 
Statue op Nathan Hale 



The Revolutionary War 



20I 



Misfortunes now came fast upon General Washington and 
his army. General Howe advanced with a large force against 
one of the forts on the river, and captured it Retreat across 
with three thousand men. General CornwalKs ^®^ Jersey 
had arrived and taken command of the British forces, and on 
one side of the river was pressing Washington very hard. 




Washington and His Army Retreat across New Jersey in the Dead of Winter, 

1776 



Washington ordered General Charles Lee, who was on the 
other side, to cross over and help him, but General Lee wil- 
fully disobeyed orders and stayed where he was. Washington 
saw that he could not hojd the other fort, so he left it. to the 
enemy and began a retreat across New Jersey. 

As Washington retreated he destroyed the bridges, felled 
trees across the roads, and destroyed all provisions on the 



202 



American History 



way, so that Cornwallis, who started in pursuit, had a hard 
time of it. It took the British three weeks to travel seventy 
miles. They were close behind the Americans, however, and 
often Washington was barely out of one side of a town before 
the red coats of the enemy were seen on the other side. 

Discontent seized upon the people and army. Here was 
a miserable, ragged, poorly fed, badly equipped army of 
Americans hotly pursued by a large, well-armed, and well- 
fed body of British soldiers. Everybody was discouraged 
except Washington. 

General Charles Lee with a small army followed his com- 
mander, whom he had disobeyed. One night he went to 




Washington Receives the Surrender op a Thousand Hessian Soldiers 
AT Trenton 



sleep in a tavern about four miles from his troops, and the 
British suddenly appeared and captured him. His capture 
was not a serious loss, for he was a vain, envious man, who 
wanted to be commander-in-chief, and who gave Washington 
a great deal of trouble. 

Washington with his army crossed the Delaware River at 
Trenton. It was now December, 1776. The weather was 



The Revolutionary War 203 

cold, and the river was full of floating ice. A force of Hessian 
soldiers had reached Trenton and were waiting to cross the 
river in pursuit of Washington. They began to celebrate 
Christmas by drinking and carousing. They thought Wash- 
ington, having crossed the river, was still in full retreat. 

Christmas night, however. General Washington put his 
men into boats, recrossed the half-frozen Delaware, and in a 
furious snowstorm marched against the Hessian victory at 
camp and surprised the soldiers at their revels. Trenton 
He captured a thousand prisoners and a large quantity of 
arms. This was the brilliant victory of Trenton, and those 
who were in despair now began to rejoice. It was a happy 
Christmas in the colonies when news of this event became 
known. 

In spite of this, however, the poor soldiers of the patriotic 
army were in dreadful distress. Winter was at hand; they 
had no shoes, no clothing, poor food, bad shelter, and no 
money. They thought of their wives and children at home. 
They clamored for money that would buy things, and not for 
the paper money which Congress printed by the cartload and 
which was almost worthless. 

In his distress, Washington wrote to his friend Robert 
Morris, a banker in Philadelphia, asking him to send fifty 
thousand dollars in cash to keep the army to- Robert Morris 
gether. Robert Morris read the letter and started ^^^^^^ ™°^®y 
out before daybreak on New Year's Day. He went from 
house to house, begging for gold and silver to pay the half- 
starved soldiers, and relieve the wants of their families. He 
had very little trouble in raising the money. It was sent to 
Washington, and paid out to the soldiers, and used by them 
to procure the necessities of life for themselves and their 
families at home. 



204 American History 

Cornwallis now moved against Washington. He found 
Victory at him near Trenton, where he had captured the 
Princeton Hessians, with the Delaware River behind him. 
"Now I will bag the old fox," he said, and went to sleep, 
thinking he had Washington in a trap. 

That night, to deceive Cornwallis, Washington left a few 
men to keep his camp fires burning and make a noise as if 
they were throwing up breastworks. He then moved his men 
out of the trap and appeared at Princeton before Cornwallis 
knew he had gone. A battle was fought in which the British 
were defeated (January 3, 1777). Then Washington made 
his little army safe at Morristown for the rest of the winter. 

Things began to look better for the Americans. Wash- 
ington had proved to be a great general, and was the pride 
and hope of the American cause. In the summer 
of 1777, the Marquis de Lafayette, a young French 
nobleman, nineteen years of age, came over and offered his 
services to Washington. He became a famous general and 
was always a devoted friend of Washington and of the cause 
of liberty. He spent much of his own money in clothing and 
food for the soldiers. 

With him also came Baron de Kalb. Among others who 
came was Baron Steuben, who was of great service in drilling 
the soldiers and showing them how to act in battle. Kos- 
ciusko and Pulaski, two brave Polish patriots, also threw 
their fortunes in with the Americans who were fighting for 
the independence of their land. 

6. SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE 

The summer of 1777 had come, and the scene of war was 
shifted to New York. General Burgoyne, the British com- 
mander, marched from Canada into New York with eight 




War Territory in the Eastern and Middle States 



The Revolutionary War 205 

thousand men, going by way of Lake Champlain, and captur- 
ing Fort Ticonderoga on the way. He expected General 
Howe to move up from New York City and meet Burgoyne's 
him at Albany. Then the British would hold the p^*^ 
Hudson River, and the plan of separating New England from 
the rest of the country would be carried out. 

However, the plan did not succeed, as we shall see. Gen- 
eral Schuyler, the American commander, was in front of 
Burgoyne's march. He burned all the bridges, cut down 
trees across the roads, and did everything he could to harass 
the British troops. So slow was Burgoyne's progress that 
he was twenty-four days going twenty-six miles. Burgoyne's 
horses died of fatigue, and food for the soldiers was scarce. 

Burgoyne heard that a quantity of provisions was stored at 
Bennington, Vermont, and sent a thousand men to cap- 
ture these supplies for his men. Colonel John Battle of 
Stark started out to meet the British. When he Bennington 
came in sight of them he said to his troops, ''There they 
are, boys; we beat them today, or Molly Stark's a widow." 
The men rushed upon the ''redcoats," as the British were 
called, and whipped them so completely that hardly a 
hundred out of the thousand reached safety in Burgoyne's 
camp. 

Burgoyne went on his way towards Albany, and reached 
Saratoga. General Gates took command of the American 
forces. No help came from New York, and Bur- gatties 
goyne was in a bad plight. Fighting took place around 
at several places around Saratoga. At Stillwater s*^^*°sa 
some of the American soldiers climbed tall trees, and, hidden 
by the leaves, easily killed a number of British officers. 

General Benedict Arnold acted with great bravery. He 
could be seen on his horse riding over the field where the 



2o6 American History 

smoke and flame of battle were thickest. His horse was 
killed under him, and he himself was wounded in the leg. 

General Burgoyne withdrew toward Saratoga. He was 
surrounded by the Americans, and exposed to a deadly fire 
Surrender from their cannon and muskets. There was not 
of Burgoyne ^ gg^fg place even for the wounded, or for the 
women and children. Burgoyne decided to surrender. As 
the officers were deliberating about the matter, a large cannon 
ball swept across the table where Burgoyne and his men were 
sitting. This hastened their decision, and they sent word to 
General Gates that they would surrender. 

October 17, 1777, General Burgoyne gave his sword to Gen- 
eral Gates. His army was surrendered, and the men were 
marched off to Boston. It was a great victory, and entirely 
changed the British plans for carrying on the war. There 
was now no danger of the British holding all the Hudson 
River. They were shut up in New York City, and Wash-, 
ington was watching them closely. 

News of the surrender of Burgoyne was received in England 
with great dismay. Lord North, the prime minister, pro- 
Effect of posed to end the war by granting the colonies 
Burgoyne's everything they had demanded, except their inde- 
surren er pendence of the mother country. But the colo- 
nies now had no idea of returning to their former condition 
as subjects of England, and the proposals of Lord North were 
rejected. In America everybody rejoiced at the great vic- 
tory of Saratoga and took courage. When the king of France 
heard about it, he said that the Americans were worthy of 
independence. Accordingly he acknowledged the independ- 
ence of America, and was ready to help carry on the war. 

Thus we see that the battle of Saratoga had two important 
results : first it broke up the British plans for carrying on the 



The Revolutionary War 207 

war; second, it secured for us the alliance and friendship of 
France. 

In fact, the French government, under Louis XVI, had 
already secretly aided the colonists in many ways, because 
France desired to weaken the power of England. France 
and Spain both had privately advanced large sums of money 
to the agents of the colonists to buy arms and ammunition. 
The French alliance brought on war between England and 
France, in which Spain joined later. Thus England was not 
only waging war in America, but had powerful enemies to 
contend against in Europe. It was mainly through the 
efforts of Benjamin Franklin, the representative in Paris of 
the colonies, that the French alliance was secured. 

Let us see why the British in New York did not come to 
the aid of Burgoyne as he expected. General Howe, who 
was left in command at New York, thought he ^j^^ gj-itish 
could march over and capture Philadelphia, and move on 
then get back in time to send troops up the river. ^ ^ e p la 
Washington was not asleep, however, and as soon as the 
British moved out of New York he harassed them so much 
that they decided to abandon the land march and try a sea 
trip to Philadelphia. 

General Howe then sailed south and entered Chesapeake 
Bay. He landed at the head of it and marched against 
Philadelphia. Washington had hurried to meet him, and 
gave battle at Brandywine Creek, but was defeated (Sep- 
tember II, 1777). After a two weeks' march Howe entered 
Philadelphia, and took possession of the capital of the United 
Colonies. Washington by his strategy had delayed the cap- 
ture of the city so long that Howe found it was too late to 
help Burgoyne, so he left him to his fate. What that fate 
was we already know. 



2o8 American History 

The summer was now over. Burgoyne had been defeated 
and the Hudson River was safe. The British still held New 
The British at York, and General Howe was in possession of 
Philadelphia Philadelphia. Here he made himself and his 
troops snug for the winter. They had warm houses, plenty 
of food and clothing, and spent the cold winter in peace and 
comfort. There were so many parties and balls that Franklin 
wrote from Paris that Howe had not taken Philadelphia, but 
Philadelphia had taken Howe. 

Not so the poor American troops under the brave Wash- 
Washington ington. They had retired to Valley Forge, about 
at Valley fourteen miles from Philadelphia, to watch the 

Forge, 1777 British if they should start for New York. Rude 
log cabins were built, lined with clay, each accommodating 
about a dozen men. 

Then the winter settled down, the snow fell, and the rain 
and sleet came. It was a terrible winter. There was but 
little wood to be had, and often the men had to huddle to- 
gether to keep warm. There was not enough food, and 
frequently the soldiers were on the point of starving. There 
was almost no clothing, the soldiers were ragged and bare- 
foot, and often the snow was stained from their bleeding feet. 

While these things were happening on land, events were 
also taking place on the sea. England was the mistress of the 
seas. The American colonies had almost no navy, and yet 
their few vessels won immortal fame during the war. A few 
ships, fitted out at private expense, called privateers, and com- 
missioned to prey upon the enemy, spread terror among the 
British merchant ships. 

In 1775 Congress decided to organize a navy of six vessels 
for protecting the coasts. Among the commanders com- 
missioned at that time was John Paul Jones , a Scotchman, 



The Revolutionary War 



209 



scarcely twenty years of age, but one of the most skillful and 
daring seamen that ever handled a ship. It was he who first 
raised the American flag at sea. 

His vessel was named the Bonhomme Richard. During the 
time he was commander he fought twenty-three battles at 
sea, captured four large vessels, and made his name a terror 
to British seamen everywhere. 

September 23, 1779, Jones 
was cruising off the English 
coast, and fell in with a fleet 
of merchant ships convoyed by 
the Serapis and another war 
vessel. He gave chase to the 
British ship and soon came up 
with the Serapis. It was the 
first time an English and an 
American war vessel had met 
upon the high seas, and both 
commanders were eager for 
the battle. 

In those days vessels were made of wood, and fighting was 
at close range. The two ships came together just as the sun 
was setting. The British commander cried out. The Bon- 
''What ship is that?" Tones replied by hurling homme 

. , , , *^ ^ . . Richard en- 

an eighteen-pound shot that went tearmg mto gages the 
the Serapis, destroying a gun carriage. The Serapis 
British ship poured a broad-side into the Bonhomme Richard 
that splintered the mast, killed several men, and exploded 
a part of the magazine. 

A most terrible naval engagement now ensued between 
the two vessels. The full moon was shining, and it was 
almost as bright as day. The sea was calm. Great crowds 




John Paul Jones, who First Raised 
THE American Flag at Sea 



2IO 



American History 



of people on the Flamborough Hills in England were watch- 
ing the deadly combat. The vessels sailed around each other, 

deHvering their fire with 
terrible effect. Cannon 
balls tore through the rig- 
ging, the ships were pierced, 
the decks ran red with the 
blood of stricken men. 

After a while the British 
commander called out, 
''Are you ready to sur- 
render ? " " Surrender, ' ' an- 
swered Jones, *'we have 
not begun to fight yet!" 

The two ships grappled. 
Explosives were thrown on 

the decks of the The Serapis 
Serapis, several surrenders 

cannon burst, and both 
ships soon were on fire. 
Jones's ship was in a 
sinking condition, but he 
gathered his men in a final attack that bore away the enemy's 
mast. The commander of the Serapis lowered his flag and 
agreed to surrender. 

John Paul Jones took possession of the Serapis, extin- 
guished the flames, and from the decks of the captured 
ship saw his own vessel sink to the bottom of the sea. It 
was the greatest naval victory of the war. It lowered the 
pride and humbled the boast of the British navy for many 
years. 




The 



BoNHOMME Richard' 
"Serapis" 



Captures the 



The Revolutionary War 2 i i 

7. THE WAR IN THE SOUTH 

After the winter of 1777 had passed, the British left Phila- 
delphia and started for New York. Washington followed 
them closely and a battle was fought at Mon- guttle of 
mouth, which would have been a brilliant victory Monmouth, 
for the Americans if General Charles Lee (who ^^^^ ^^' ^^"^^ 
had been exchanged for a British general) had not directly 
disobeyed orders. 

Instead of attacking the British, he retreated, against the 
positive orders of Washington. The Commander-in-Chief 
was angry. He sternly rebuked Lee in no measured words, 
and ordered him to the rear. Later Lee was tried by court- 
martial and dismissed from the army. 

This was the last great battle on Northern soil. The British 
reached New York, and Washington stretched his lines 
around them. Here we shall leave him watching the enemy 
ceaselessly day and night. For the next three years the 
scene of war was changed to the Southern Colonies, where 
the great conflict was destined to come to an end. 

The British plan was to begin with Georgia and conquer 
each colony northward separately. To carry out this design 
a fleet sailed from New York, landed at Savannah, „ .^. ^ 

' British over- 

and captured the city (December 29, 1778). A mn Georgia 
short time after, a British force captured Augusta ^^^ s^"*^ 

" , . Carolina 

and took possession of other small towns. Ihis 
remote colony offered as brave resistance as it could, but, left 
to its own resources, it was no match for the trained soldiers 
of England. The British kept Savannah in spite of a desperate 
effort to retake it in the fall of 1779. 

In the spring of 1780 a British fleet under Sir Henry Clinton 
and Lord Cornwallis sailed from New York to Savannah. 



212 



American History 



The troops went overland to attack Charleston, where Gen- 
eral Lincoln had collected a small army for defense. Besieged 
Capture of by land and sea, the city could not hold out, 
Charleston g^j^^j ^g^g surrendered with all the soldiers and a 
large quantity of suppKes (May 12, 1780). Thus Georgia 
and South CaroHna fell under the control of the British. 




Francis Marion and His Men from Their Hiding Places Wage War on 
British in the South 



Clinton sailed back to New York, leaving Cornwallis to push 
the conquest northward. The British plan so far had suc- 
ceeded, and two of the Southern Colonies were for a time in 
their hands. 

The patriots in the South could now offer but little resist- 
ance to the British. War was kept up in an irregular way by 



The Revolutionary War 2 1 3 

small bands of soldiers, who gathered in swamps and dense 
thickets and descending upon the British, shot at them from 
ambush, captured their horses, harassed their rear irregular 
guards, and, if pursued, vanished into the swamps, warfare 

Among the leaders were Francis Marion, who was called 
the ''Swamp Fox," and Thomas Sumter, the ''CaroHna Game 
Cock." These men led brave bands of South Francis 
Carolina patriots, hovering over the enemy like Marion 
a cloud, worrying them always, but rarely coming to actual 
battle. When pursued they and their men fled to the swamps 
for safety. 

Once, under a flag of truce, Marion met a British officer 
and invited him to dinner. When the meal was ready, it 
consisted of a few roasted potatoes, served on Marion's 
pieces of bark. ''Do you usually have this for dinner 
food?" asked the British officer in astonishment. "Yes," 
said Marion, "except that today we have a few more than 
usual, on account of our guest." 

When the officer went back to his friends, he told them it 
was idle and fooHsh to fight against soldiers who would endure 
such privations for the sake of liberty. 

Everywhere the people suffered from the cruelty of the 
British troops. Houses were burned, crops were destroyed, 
cattle were stolen, and often murder was com- sufferings of 
mitted. The patriotic women made bullets out of *^® people 
their pewter dishes, made clothing for the soldiers in the field, 
and hid their provisions from the bands of Tories. 

Under this condition in the South, Cornwallis moved out 
of Charleston towards Camden, S. C. General Battle of 
Gates, who had been appointed to the command Camden 
of the American army in the South, was on his way to meet 
Cornwallis. The armies met at Camden, August 16, 1780, 



214 American History 

and after a stubborn fight the Americans were badly 
defeated. 

General Gates, who was by no means an able officer, ran 
for three days and a half, leaving his army utterly beaten and 
demorahzed. It was a crushing blow. CornwaUis was now 
free to march into North CaroHna . 

So far the British had been in the South a year and a half, 
and had captured Savannah and Charleston, had overrun 
Georgia and South CaroHna, and had won the battle of Cam- 
den. The tide was now to turn, however, and they were to 
win no more victories of consequence. 

As CornwaUis advanced, the hardy mountaineers gathered 
before him from hill and valley, bringing muskets, rifles, and 
Battle of shotguns. When the British reached King's 

King's Mountain in upper South Carohna, an army was 

Mountain ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ Many of the hardy settlers 

from Kentucky and Tennessee had come over the mountains 
led by John Sevier to stop the progress of the British forces. 
Armed with guns, knives, and tomahawks, and clad in 
buckskin shirts, these untrained soldiers fell upon the British 
so mercilessly that hundreds were slain and the rest taken 
prisoners (October 7, 1780). This great victory changed the 
fortunes of war. 

General Nathanael Greene succeeded General Gates. A 
British force under Tarleton met an American force under 
General Morgan at the Cowpens in South CaroHna, not 

Nathanael far from King's Mountain, and the British suf- 
Greene fered another terrible defeat. Greene now led 

CornwalHs on a long chase until the two armies reached 
Guilford Court House in North CaroHna, ' where a battle 
occurred (March 15, 1781). 

Here the Americans had to retreat, but the British suf- 




War Territory in the South 



The Revolutionary War 215 

fered so badly that it was said, *' another such victory would 
destroy the British army." 

Cornwallis now started north. What became of him we 
shall see later on. Greene, leaving Washington to look after 
Cornwallis, turned his army south, and by his Greene 
skill and the bravery of his troops soon drove the *^^^^ ^^^^^ 
remaining British troops back from the territory of Georgia 
and South Carolina, shutting them up in Savannah and 
Charleston. 

The war was over in the South. It had lasted for three 
years, and many hard battles had been fought and a great 
deal of suffering endured. Greene was in command of the 
situation, and CornwalHs was on his way to meet his fate in 
Virginia. 

While the war was going on in the South, one of the saddest 
events of American history occurred at West Point, on the 
Hudson River, in September, 1780. This was the Treason of 
treason of Benedict Arnold. Arnold had been a Benedict 
brave soldier, but was disappointed about promo- ^"° 
tion. He had fallen into bad habits, and had been repri- 
manded by Washington for his conduct. This had made him 
angry, and he determined to turn traitor to the American 
cause. 

He asked Washington to put him in charge of West Point, 
a strong fort on the Hudson River. This Washington readily 
granted. From that point Arnold secretly sent word to the 
British in New York that he was willing to surrender the 
fort for thirty thousand dollars and an officer's position in the 
British army. 

Major John Andre, a brave young officer, was sent from 
the British lines to meet Arnold. They had a meeting at 
midnight on the banks of the river. Arnold gave up im- 



2l6 



American History 



portant papers describing the fort, and agreed upon how it 

was to be surrendered. 
Andre started by land down the river. All went well until 

he reached Tarrytown. Here three men stopped him and 

asked what he was doing. Thinking they were friends, Andre 

repKed, *'I am a British 
officer on important busi- 
ness. I hope you will not 
detain me." 

Seeing they had made an 
important capture, they 
ordered Andre capture of 

to dismount. Andre 

Andre was alarmed at the 
mistake he had made, and 
showed the pass that 
Arnold had given him. It 
was too late, however. 
They searched his clothes 
and found the plans of 
West Point and other 
papers in his boots. Andre 
offered the men his watch, 
horse, and indeed every- 
thing he had, if they would 
let him go. The patriots 
sternly refused, and Andre was taken to the American lines. 
Arnold was at breakfast after his meeting with Andre and 
was handed a note. It told him a British officer had been 
arrested inside the lines. Hastily rising, he told his wife of 
his danger, mounted a horse, reached the river, and was safely 
carried to New York and to the British.' 




Andre on His Way prom West Point Is 
Captured by Three Americans 



The Revolutionary War 217 

Andre was tried by court-martial as a spy. His fate was a 
sad one, for he was a noble young officer, and much beloved 
by his friends. He was hanged in October, 1780. 

8. THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLJS 

Let us now return to Cornwallis. After the battle at 
Guilford Court House, instead of following Greene south- 
ward, Cornwalhs turned into Virginia. Lafayette was in 
front of him, and so embarrassed his movements that he 
could not ravage Virginia as he hoped. Cornwallis then 
moved over to York town, on the coast. 

Washington, who all the time had been watching the British 
in New York, now saw a chance to end the war. Leaving a 
small force to protect the Hudson, he quietly 

, - . ,^ 1 1 • r -1 Yorktown 

marched down to Virgmia, jomed his forces with 
the French, and appeared before Yorktown, almost before the 
British knew he had left New York. At the same time a 
French fleet appeared in Chesapeake Bay, and CornwalHs was 
thus shut up in Yorktown, besieged by sea and by land. 

Day by day the works of the British fell under the cease- 
less fire of the American guns. Cornwallis had no hope of 
escape, and so in despair he hoisted the white flag. October 
19, 1 78 1, he formally surrendered his whole army. 

The scene of the surrender of Cornwalhs was most im- 
pressive. The British army marched out of Yorktown with 
their flags furled, guns on shoulder, and were The surrender 
drawn up in order opposite the American troops, of Cornwallis 
It was two o'clock in the afternoon. Washington and Ro- 
chambeau, the French general, with their staff officers, sat on 
their horses at the head of the troops. 

Cornwallis was not present. He was represented by Gen- 
eral O'Hara, who approached Washington, saluted, and apol- 



2l8 



American History 



ogized for Cornwallis's absence, saying he was too ill to be 
present. Washington returned the salute, saying that General 
Lincoln would receive the surrender of the troops. Lincoln 




CoRNWALLis Surrenders at Yorktown, October 19, 1781 



had been obliged to surrender his own sword to Clinton at 
Charleston the year before, and the commission to receive 
the surrender of the British at Yorktown was very pleasant 
to him. 



The Revolutionary War 



219 



The order to "ground arms" was given. Some of the 
British soldiers threw their guns down so hard as almost to 
break them. A sharp order corrected this. The prisoners 
then marched back to Yorktown to await further orders. 

A courier on a swift horse started to Philadelphia with 
the news. As he rode into the town late at night he told 
The news in the watchmen of 
Philadelphia ^^e city. They 
cried out the great news, "Past 
two o'clock, and Cornwallis is 
taken ! " Soon everybody was 
up, bells were rung, bonfires 
were lighted, and people were 
shouting, wild with joy. Early 
next morning, Congress met 
and marched to one of the 
churches and gave thanks to 
God for the deliverance of the 
colonies. The old doorkeeper 
of Congress was so overcome 
with emotion that he dropped 
dead. 

The news in England was received in quite an opposite way. 
The British prime minister threw up his hands and exclaimed, 
"My God! it is all over!" The people demanded that the 
war should cease. They were tired of it, and were glad to let 
America have her freedom at any cost. 

While the surrender at Yorktown practically ended the war, 
peace was not secured until a treaty was signed between the 
colonies and Great Britain, which took place in Treaty of 
Paris, September 3, 1783. This was known as ^^"^ 
the Treaty of Paris. The British agreed to leave America, 




Past Two O' Clock, and Cornwallis 
Is Taken!" 



2 20 American History 

the captured cities were restored, and peace once more reigned. 
By the terms of the treaty the United Colonies of America 
became free and independent States. 

Washington now resigned his commission as Commander- 
in-Chief of the army, bade farewell to his officers and men, 
and retired to his home at Mount Vernon, on the Potomac 
River. 

Let us see some of the results of the Revolutionary War. 

In the first place, the people of the United Colonies of 
America became free and independent. They were no longer 
The colonies Subject to the king of England. They were free 
now free ^q make their own laws, to choose their own rulers, 

and to manage their affairs as they pleased. Henceforth 
England had nothing whatever to do with them and could 
not interfere in their affairs. 

In the second place, the different colonies learned to depend 
upon one another. They had stood together in their demands 
MutuaUy upon the mother country, and their soldiers had 
dependent fought side by side. The cause of one had been 
the cause of all. It had become very evident that they were 
like a bundle of sticks, very strong when tied together, very 
weak when taken separately. 

In the third place, the spirit of liberty had grown very 
dear to the American heart. The colonies had been planted 
Spirit of with that idea, they had grown with that pur- 

liberty pose, and they had fought the great war with that 

hope. The country had been baptized with the blood of its 
heroes. Soldiers and citizens had sacrificed and many had 
suffered that the colonies might be free. 



The Revolutionary War 



221 



NT U 



K E 

Boonesboroij 







Cuiiitierland <?,api.<»,^--r;TR>^(Y 





.^N«0n>« T H 



.'^tdi^y? ^-^ ^m^'ia^'Mt. Mitchell 1 



Boone's Trail 



9. HOW THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY WAS SAVED 
FOR THE UNION 

While the war was going on along the Atlantic seaboard, 
two brave men were doing great things beyond the Alle- 
gheny Moun- 
tains, in the ter- 
ritory that had 
been gained by 
the French and 
Indian War. 
All this vast 
region was a 
wilderness, in 
which were few white people and many Indians. 

In .1775 Daniel Boone of North Carolina moved into the 
regions of Kentucky and founded the town of Boonesborough. 
He and his family, with other settlers, about 
fifty in all, moved across the mountains with their Daniel Boone 

. . , moves into 

beds, clothmg, and provisions strapped on the Kentucky 
backs of horses, and driving cattle before them. 

Settlers came in from Virginia, and other small settlements 
were made. The Revolution came on, and the Indians, urged 
by the British, swooped down upon the little forts, burned 
the houses, and often captured the settlers, then murdered 
them, or took them off to their villages. 

Boone himself was taken prisoner one day while he was 
boiling water for salt, and was carried off by the Indians. 
He heard of their plot to destroy Boonesborough Boone saves 
and kill all the people. He managed to escape, ^^ *°^° 
and reached the town in five days, traveling more than a 
hundred and sixty miles. During this time he ate but one 



222 



American History 



meal, which was a turkey he had kihed. He reached the town 
just in time to have Boonesborough fortified and save the 
place from the Indians. 

All the region north of the Ohio and around the Great 
Lakes was known as the Northwest Territory. The EngKsh 
had come into possession of it after the French and Indian 
War, and had built forts at Kaskaskia, Vincennes, and De- 
troit. These were so far away from the rest of the coimtry 

that during the war 
they were almost for- 
gotten. 

There was one man, 
however, who saw that 
this terri- ^^^^^^ 
tory must Rogers 

be wrested ^^"^ 
from the English, in 
order to hold it for the 
United States when the time came to make a treaty of peace. 
He was a bold young frontiersman of Kentucky, named 
George Rogers Clark. Clark rode his horse all the way to 
Virginia and appeared before Patrick Henry, who was then 
governor. "I desire to raise a company of soldiers to defend 
Kentucky and to drive the English out of the Northwest 
Territory," said he. 

The governor was pleased with the idea, and gave orders 
to enlist seven companies of men who were to "defend Ken- 
tucky." Nothing was said about the Northwest Territory, 
for that part of the plan had to be kept secret. 
The" Long About One hundred and fifty men, hardy sons of 

Knives " |-}^g frontier, with fur caps, fringed hunting shirts, 

buckskin leggings and moccasins, and armed with long 




Daniel Boone Bitilds a Fort in the Wilder- 
ness OF Kentucky 



The Revolutionary War 



223 



rifles, tomahawks, and knives, enlisted for the enterprise. 
They soon became known as ''Long Knives," on account of 
their deadly aim with a gun, and their fearless natures. 

The party dropped down the Ohio River in boats until 
they reached the site of the present city of Louis- journey 
ville. Here Clark landed, drilled his soldiers into through the 
some kind of military order, and told them of his ^ ^"less 
plan to conquer the territory. After resting several days 
they proceeded down 
the river, and landed 
at a place about one 
hundred and thirty 
miles from Kaskaskia. 
He decided to go 
on foot through the 
wilderness in order 
that the spies on the 
river might not give 
word of his approach. 
The soldiers waded 
through the swamps, 
and toiled through the long grass of the prairies, on their 
way northward. 

Clark appeared before Kaskaskia July 4th, 1778, and found 
most of the people of the village at a dance. The governor 
was in bed. Nobody had the least idea that an capture of 
enemy had reached the fort. Clark and his men Kaskaskia 
marched to the hall where the dancing was going on. He 
stood at the open door, leaning against the post. Some one 
saw him, and raised the cry of "The Long Knives!" In- 
stantly there was great alarm, but Clark quietly said to the 
people, "You may go on with your fun, but remember you 




Route of George Rogers Clark 



224 



American History 



are dancing under the flag of Virginia, and not under that of 
Great Britain." 

The next day the fort surrendered, and the priests came 
to Clark and begged him not to march the people off into 
the wilderness without food and clothing. *'Do you take us 
for savages?" asked Clark. ''We are Americans, and you 




Clark and His Men Wade through the Wabash River 

can tell your people to go on with their business as usual, for 
nobody will be disturbed." 

In February, 1779, Clark decided to march against Vin- 
cennes and capture that fort from the EngUsh. It was in the 
March to dead of winter, the river was frozen, snow covered 
Vincennes ^j^g fields, and the forests were bare of game. 
The British commander had no idea that an enemy could reach 
him in such weather. Clark set out, followed by his brave 
men, some on foot and some on horseback. 

All day long they trudged through the cold and snow, and 
at night built great fires to warm themselves and dry their 
clothes. The Wabash River was swollen, and the shivering 



The Revolutionary War 225 

men had to march or force their horses through freezing water 
to cross the drowned lands. 

At one time the men were so discouraged that they held 
back. Clark selected a tall soldier, six feet four inches high, 
mounted a drummer boy on his shoulders, and started him 
through the icy flood. The drummer boy beat his drum, and 
Clark commanded, " Forward — March ! " Amused and de- 
lighted the brave men waded in and crossed over. In a few 
days they came in sight of the fort of Vincennes, where they 
were joined by another party having several small cannon. 

Clark sent word to the fort to surrender. The governor, 
whose name was Hamilton, was called ''the hair buyer," be- 
cause he paid for scalps of the white people of capture of 
Kentucky that the Indians brought to him. Vincennes 
Hamilton refused to surrender, and Clark began to bombard 
the fort. Hamilton asked for a conference with Clark. 
While the conference was going on, a party of Indians came 
along with a lot of scalps they had taken over in Kentucky, 
expecting the usual reward. When Clark's men saw them 
they tomahawked the whole party, and threw their bodies 
into the river. 

Hamilton surrendered Vincennes soon afterwards. He 
and his men were sent to Virginia as prisoners of war. Thus 
it was that Illinois, Indiana, and all the Northwest Territory 
came into the hands of the Americans through the bravery 
of Colonel Clark. 

This was very important to our country. When the treaty 
of peace was signed, it was agreed that England and the 
United States should each keep what territory it held at the 
close of the war. Canada remained in possession of England, 
but the Northwest Territory, out of which the States of Ohio, 
Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin, and a part of 



226 American History 

Minnesota have since been made, remained in possession of 
the United States. 

TOPICS 

George III and the American Colonies. Riches for England; pro- 
vision of the Navigation Acts. Buying from English merchants. Laws 
regulating manufactures ; wool ; iron ; hats. Heavy taxes. Smuggling. 
Wrfts of assistance ; searching the houses. James Otis. George III and 
his friends; Lord North. Rotten boroughs. Tyranny of the king. 
English friends of America ; William Pitt. 

First Acts of Resistance. The Stamp Act ; its provisions ; how the 
people treated it. Col. Barre's protest; Sons of Liberty. Patrick 
Henry's speech ; the closing words and their effect, Benjamin Franklin 
and his influence. Franklin in Paris. Tax on tea, etc. ; how the people 
treated it. The Massachusetts circular ; action of George III. Troops 
in Boston ; Boston Massacre. Samuel Adams. Tea in Boston harbor ; 
destroying the tea ; other tea parties. ' Punishing the colonists ; closing 
Boston harbor ; relief from other colonies ; message from South Carolina. 
Changing the charter of Massachusetts. General Thomas Gage. First 
Continental Congress. 

First Battle of the Revolution. Storing war material at Concord. 
Intention of Gage. Ride of Paul Revere. Hancock and Adams. Rising 
of the people. Battle of Lexington ; retreat of the British. The Meck- 
lenburg Declaration. Gathering of the soldiers ; Israel Putnam. Second 
Continental Congress. George Washington. Preparations around 
Boston ; battle of Bunker Hill ; the third attack. Washington's com- 
ment. Ethan Allen captures Fort Ticonderoga. 

The Progress of the War. Washington takes command ; his head- 
quarters ; our first flag ; his army ; preparations for war. Threatening 
Boston. The British leave Boston. Arnold's march to Canada. Mont- 
gomery's attack on Quebec ; result. Attack on Charleston ; Fort 
Moultrie; William Jasper's bravery. Hiring the Hessians. Richard 
Henry Lee's resolutions. Committee on Declaration of Independence ; 
signing the Declaration ; rejoicing of the people. 

Trials and Triumphs of the Patriots. Plans of the British. Battle 
of Long Island. Washington enters and leaves New York. Story of 
Nathan Hale. Misfortunes to Washington's army. Retreat across 



The Revolutionary War 227 

New Jersey. Incidents of the retreat ; discontent of the people. Charles 
Lee. Incidents at Trenton. Crossing the Delaware. Victory at Tren- 
ton. Conditions of the army. Robert Morris raises money. Victory 
at Princeton. Lafayette and others. 

Surrender of Burgoyne. Movements of Burgoyne's army. Bur- 
goyne's plan. Schuyler's interference and its results. Battle of Ben- 
nington. Battles around Saratoga. Burgoyne's plight ; his surrender, 
and the result. Proposals of Lord North. Rejoicing in America. French 
alliance. Relations of England and France. The British move on 
Philadelphia. Battle of Brandywine. Capture of Philadelphia. Hard- 
ships at Valley Forge. American privateers. Arranging a navy. 
John Paul Jones. Bonhomme Richard. Capture of the Serapis. 

The War in the South. Battle of Monmouth; action of General 
Charles Lee; Washington's rebuke. Washington surrounds New York. 
British capture Savannah and Augusta. Charleston attacked and 
captured. Irregular warfare. Francis Marion and Thomas Sumter. 
Marion's dinner. Suffering of the people. Battle of Camden. Battle of 
King's Mountain. General Nathanael Greene. Battle of Guilford 
Court House. Benedict Arnold ; meeting with Andre ; capture of 
Andre ; flight of Arnold ; execution of Andre. 

Surrender of CornwaUis. Movements of Cornwallis. Yorktown. 
Surrender of CornwaUis ; scene of the surrender. The news in Phila- 
delphia. The news in England. The Treaty of Paris. Results of the 
war ; independence ; mutual dependence of colonies ; spirit of liberty. 

How the Northwest Territory was Saved for the Union. Daniel 
Boone in Kentucky ; settlers ; adventures of Boone. The Northwest 
Territory. George Rogers Clark. The " Long Knives." Clark's 
journey down the Ohio ; his march through the wilderness. Capture of 
Kaskaskia. Treatment of the people. March to Vincennes. Fording 
the Wabash and crossing the drowned lands. Capture of Vincennes. 
Importance of Clark's enterprise. 

SUBJECTS FOR STUDY 

What mistakes of judgment did George III make in the management 
of the colonies? What motives inspired the colonies to resistance, and 
were they worthy motives? What traits of character did George Wash- 
ington have that made him a great soldier and a great man ? Discuss the 



228 American History 

mistakes made by the British commanders in America. Discuss the most 
notable instances of personal courage and endurance. 

COMPOSITION 

Suppose you had been a witness of the destruction of the tea in Boston 
harbor, and write an account of it. 

Write an account of Paul Revere 's ride. Suppose you had been at 
Valley Forge, and describe your hardships. 

MAP STUDIES 

Locate the battle of Lexington and the retreat of the British. Locate 
Ticonderoga. Trace the retreat of Washington across New Jersey. 
Locate Trenton and Princeton. Locate Bennington ; Saratoga. Locate 
Camden; King's Mountain; Yorktown. Describe the trail of Clark 
and his men. Locate Kaskaskia ; Vincennes. 

Collateral Reading. "Twice Told Tales," by Hawthorne. "The 
Partisans," by Simms. "Boys of '76," by Coffin. "The Pilot," by 
Cooper. "The Spy," by Cooper. "Camps and Firesides of the Revo- 
lution," by Hart. "Paul Revere's Ride," by Longfellow. "The Con- 
cord Hymn, " by Emerson. 



Chapter VIII 

ESTABLISHING THE NATION 

1. THE CRITICAL PERIOD 

At the close of the Revolution there were about four mil- 
lion people in the United States. There were no large cities 
such as we now have. Philadelphia was the largest, having 
forty-two thousand people ; New York came next with thirty- 
three thousand ; then Boston with eighteen thousand ; and 
Baltimore with thirteen thousand. 

Even these places had the appearance of large country 
towns, being badly paved, with ill-lighted streets and poorly- 
kept sidewalks. The houses were mainly of wood, very 
comfortable indeed, but far from being the splendid dwellings 
we now see in our cities. 

The long war had cost a large sum of money, and the 
States were heavily in debt. There was almost Financial 
no gold or silver money. There was plenty of distress 
paper currency, but it was worthless, because the government 
could not redeem it in coin. 

A pound of sugar sold for $io in continental money. A 
barrel of flour cost $1500. When the people wished to 
express their contempt of anything, they said, ''It is not 
worth a continental." In fact, of so little value was the 
paper or "continental money" that two hundred dollars of 
it was not worJ:h one gold dollar. Indeed, the people refused 
to take it, preferring to barter, or exchange, their goods with 
one another. 

229 



230 



American History 




GEORGE WASHINGTON 
"First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of His Countrymen' 



^ Establishing the Nation 231 

The people at large, however, had not suffered during the 
war. The fishing industry and the shipping business had been 
seriously affected, but the farm products and the prosperity 
manufactures amply supplied the needs of the in spite of 
people. In spite of the losses by the war, the ^" 
population had increased three hundred thousand, and the 
country was richer and stronger at the close of the war than 
at the beginning. Most of the distress of the soldiers in the 
field had arisen from lack of good management. 

During the Revolution the various colonies had been held to- 
gether by a common danger. So long as there was an enemy 
to fight, all the people from all the colonies had a common 
stood bravely together for the common good. ""^°" 
Instead of being an army for each colony, there was one army 
for all. In the same way all the war measures, such as the 
foreign loans of money and the treaties of peace and friendship, 
had been in the names of all the colonies united, and not for 
each one separately. 

For the purpose of a common union during the war, a 
Continental Congress had been held. It was composed of 
delegates from each colony, who met to agree in the name of 
each colony upon measures that were for the good of all. 
Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1777 for the 
government of the country and the conduct of the war. 

As a matter of fact, the Continental Congress under the 
Articles of Confederation had but little power. It could 
pass laws, but could not make the people obey j. . . 
them. It needed money to carry on the war, powers of the 
but could not force the colonies to furnish it. It Continental 
needed soldiers for the army, but had ho power 
to levy troops. The Continental Congress could hardly do 
more than advise the colonies about certain matters, and it 



232 



American History 



was for the colonies themselves to decide whether they would 
follow the advice or not. 

After the war was over, the colonies, which had become inde- 
pendent States, became jealous of one another, and disputes 
arose about boundary lines, trade, and the right of each State 
legislature to do as it pleased. It was even suggested that a 

man should not 
buy and sell out- 
side his own State 
without paying 
duty. If a farmer 
took his produce, 
or a merchant 
took his goods, 
from one State to 
another, he might 
be called on to 
pay a tax for the 
right to sell in that 
State. 
Some of the people were so burdened with debt that they 
could not pay what they owed. In Massachusetts, in 1786, 
Shays's SO many poor people had been sued for debt and 

rebeiuon thrown into prison that a rebellion of the farmers 

occurred. Daniel Shays raised an army of two thousand 
farmers, marched to the courthouses in Springfield and in 
Worcester, and demanded that all the courts adjourn and 
that all lawsuits for debt be stopped. It took a military 
force to put down this rebellion, but it showed the temper of 
the people. 

The country was fast drifting to discord. The thirteen 
States were so many separate governments, quarreling with 





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Daniel Shays Raises an Insurrection 



Establishing the Nation 233 

one another and likely to go to war at any time. The wise 

men of the nation saw very plainly that something had to be 

done to bring order out of this confusion. 

The one thing that held the people together was the great 

country known as the Northwest Territory. This territory 

was at first claimed by several States, but at 

^ ... The North- 

length by agreement became the jomt property west Territory 

of all the States. If land in this territory could a common 

be sold to settlers to pay the public debt and to 

reward the soldiers of each State for their services and losses 

in the war, all would yet be well. 

In July, 1787, an ordinance was passed by Congress to 
organize and govern the Northwest Territory. This famous 
*' Ordinance of 1787 " provided for the future division of the 
territory into States, for personal and religious Ordinance of 
liberty, and for means of education for the settlers. ^^87 
It also guaranteed civil rights and proper treatment of the 
Indians. The most important provision of the ordinance was 
that which excluded slavery forever from the territory. This 
ordinance has been pronounced second only in importance as a 
great State paper to the Declaration of Independence itself. 

The following facts, then, made a better union of the 
States necessary : 

1. The universal distress of the people after the war. 

2. The need of a common defense for them all. 

3. The need of a money that was good everywhere. 

4. The danger and expense of separate governments. 

5. The public debt, for which all were responsible. 

6. The Northwest Territory, which they held in common. 

7. The lack of power of the old Congress. 

It became plain that we could not become a great nation 
unless we had a better union, under a written agreement or 



2 34 American History 

Constitution. How this union came about, and what the 
Constitution is, we shall see in the next lesson. 

* 2. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 

The most important event in the history of our country as 
a separate and distinct nation is the making and adoption of the 
Constitution. The Constitution is the written agreement 
entered into voluntarily by all the States, by which they bind 
themselves together under one government and make of them- 
selves one nation. 

This noble instrument is worthy of our study. It was 
made by the greatest men of the nation, and we have lived 
under its provisions ever since. It has been called ''the 
most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the 
brain and purpose of man." ^ 

In 1787 a convention of fifty-five men, sent as delegates 
from the States, met in Philadelphia for the purpose of making 
Making the the Constitution. They met in the same room in 
Constitution which the Declaration of Independence had been 
signed. George Washington was chosen president of the 
convention. 

The session lasted from May to September. The interests 
of all the States were carefully considered, and many compro- 
mises were made. The Constitution was finally agreed upon 
and submitted to the States for their acceptance or rejection.^ 

^ These are the words of William E. Gladstone, the great English statesman. 

2 Benjamin Franklin was a member of the convention. While the mem- 
bers were signing their names to the Constitution he pointed to a painting of 
the sun on the back of the president's chair and said, "I have often, during the 
course of the session, looked at that sun behind the president, without being 
able to tell whether it was rising or setting ; but now at length I have the happi- 
ness to know it is a rising and not a setting sun." 



Establishing the Nation 235 

When the Constitution was published It brought on a 
great deal of discussion. There were many able men opposed 
to some of its provisions, and for many months Adoption of 
there was great excitement everywhere. It was the Con- 
agreed that when nine States had adopted the ^*^*"*^°^ 
Constitution it should go into effect. When it became 
known that nine States had adopted it, there was great 
rejoicing.^ It was not long before all the thirteen States 
had adopted it. 

Let us study some of the provisions of the Constitution. 
The government is divided into three departments, viz. : the 
legislative department, which makes the laws ; the executive 
department, which carries out the laws; and the judicial 
department, which construes the meaning of the laws. 

The legislative department is divided into a Senate and a 
House of Representatives. There are two senators from 
each State, but the representatives vary in num- j.^^ jg . _ 
ber according to the population of the States, lative de- 
as shown by a census taken every ten years. ^^ ^^^ 
The senators and representatives are chosen by popular vote 
in each State. They meet every year, on the first Monday 
in December, in the Capitol, Washington, D. C, for the pur- 
pose of making laws for the government of the nation. W^hen 
they meet we say that Congress is in session. 

Before any measure can become a law it requires the con- 
sent of both the Senate and the House of Representatives 
and the approval of the President of the United States. In 
case the President refuses his consent, which is called a veto, 

^ The States adopted the Constitution in the following order, viz. : Delaware, 
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, 
South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Rhode 
Island. 



236 American History- 

it takes the consent of two-thirds of both houses to make the 
measure a law. 

Congress has certain powers given to it by the Constitu- 
tion. Some of these are to levy and collect taxes, borrow 
Powers of money, coin money, establish post ofhces, declare 
Congress ^g^j-, raise and support armies, and provide for a 
navy. There are also powers that are denied to Congress, 
such as levying a tax on exports, granting titles of nobility, 
and such powers as the States reserve for themselves. There 
are also powers that are denied the States, such as making 
treaties, collecting customs, coining money, engaging in war, 
etc. All these powers, and the way our laws are made, one 
can read for himself in the Constitution. 

The executive authority of the government is vested in a 

President of the United States of America. His term of 

office continues for four years. He must be a 

The President ^ . . . . , ^-. . , ^ , 

natural-born citizen of the United States, and at 
least thirty-five years of age. In case he dies, or is removed 
from office, or becomes unable to perform his duties, the Vice- 
President takes his place until the next election. It is the 
duty of the President to see that all the laws of Congress 
are duly and faithfully carried out. 

The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the army and 
navy of the United States ; he has the power, with the con- 
sent of the Senate, to make treaties, to appoint ambassadors 
and ministers to foreign courts, to appoint judges of the national 
courts, and many other officers of the United States. 

The President lives at the capital, in a splendid mansion 
provided by the government, which for many years has been 
known as the White House. Some of the greatest men in 
the country have held the office. In a government like ours, 
where all men are equal in the sight of the law, the high office 



Establishing the Nation 



237 



of President is in reach of every citizen, no matter how humbly 
born, provided he is able and worthy. 

The last department is the judicial department, or the 
courts, which have the power of construing the meaning of 
the laws and applying them to special cases. 





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The White House, the Home of the President of the United States, as It 
Appears at the Present Day 



The highest court is the Supreme Court, of which the 
judges are appointed for life by the President. Before them 
come cases which have been tried in the lower 

The courts 

courts, and which for various reasons are carried 
up to them for review. There are also lower courts estab- 
lished from time to time by Congress, to decide cases in which 
the national law has been violated. 

As the years have gone by, the Constitution has been 
changed or added to by amendments. In the main, however, 
the great document still stands as our fathers made it. 



238 



American History 



3. PROBLEMS BEFORE THE NEW GOVERNMENT 

The discussion over the Constitution divided the people 
into two great parties. One party beheved in giving much 
power • to Congress to make a strong central government. 




Washington Takes the Oath of Office in New York City, April 30, 1789 



In order to do this, that party insisted that the Constitution 
should be construed very liberally. This party was called 
the Federalist party. Its great leader was Alexander Hamil- 
ton of New York. 

FederaUst ^^^ Other party believed that Congress should 

and Anti-Fed- be confined very closely to the powers mentioned 
parties ^^ ^^^ Constitution, and that the rights of the 
States and the strength of the State governments should 
be carefully preserved. In order to do this the Constitution 



Establishing the Nation 239 

should be construed very strictly. This party was at first 
-known as the Anti-Federalist party, and afterwards as the 
RepubKcan party. Its great leader was Thomas Jefferson 
of Virginia. 

One party Considered the government strong in itself; 
the other party considered it strong only in the powers given 
to it by the States. Both parties believed in a government 
able to take care of itself at home and abroad, with ample 
powers to make itself respected and feared. The difference 
between them was in construing the meaning of the Consti- 
tution. Both parties were glad to honor the great George 
Washington by making him the first President of the United 
States. 

New York was then the capital of the country. There, 
on April 30th, 1789, Washington took the oath of office, 
standing on a balcony in front of Federal Hall, where Con- 
gress met, while a great crowd of happy people shouted, 
bells rang, and cannon boomed.^ Thus the government of 
the United States began. 

The first question to confront the new government was 
the money question. The country was heavily in debt from 
the war. There was an immense foreign debt, caused by 
loans that had been made with* European countries; there 

^ Washington was now fifty-seven years old, still in the prime of his life. He 
was tall, muscular, and hardened by his years of life as a soldier. He was a 
large man in every way. He wore a number thirteen boot, had big hands, and 
weighed two hundred pounds. When he stood erect he loomed well above his 
fellows. He was an excellent shot, a skillful swordsman, and a fine rider. In 
his younger days he could cover twenty-two feet in a running jump. 

Washington had become a rich man. He owned thousands of acres in 
Virginia, and large tracts of land along the Ohio. At one time his estate was 
valued at a half million dollars, consisting of lands, houses, slaves, crops, etc. 
However, he was often pressed for ready cash, and, it is said, had to borrow 
money to get to New York when he was inaugurated. 



240 



American History 



was a large debt owed by the country to its own citizens; 
and there were heavy debts owed by the separate States. 
Thus there were three kinds of debts which had to be pro- 
vided for. 

Alexander Hamilton, whom Washington had made Secre- 
tary of the Treasury, rose equal to the occasion. He was a 

financial genius. Alexander 

Daniel Webster said Hamilton 
of him, "He smote the rock of 
national resources and a copious 
stream of wealth poured forth. 
He touched the dead corpse of 
public credit and it sprang upon 
its feet." He was at this time 
but thirty- two years of age, but 
he was one of the leading men 
of the nation. 

Hamilton proposed that Con- 
gress should lay a duty on all 
foreign goods coming into the 
country, and with the money thus raised should pay the 
foreign loan and also the money borrowed from our own 
citizens. He made also the startling proposition 
that Congress should assume all the State debts, 
since they were incurred for the common good of 
all. In this way Congress would be responsible for all the 
debts of the country, whether made by the general govern- 
ment during the war or by the States themselves. 

To the last proposition there was much opposition, espe- 
cially from the Southern States, which feared the influence 
upon the government of the rich capitalists and merchants 
of the North. In this opposition they were led by Thomas 




Alexander Hamilton 



Hamilton's 

financial 

scheme 



Establishing the Nation 241 

Jefferson, who said that the Constitution gave Congress no 
power to assume the debts of the States. If the Constitution 
were stretched to assume this power, it might be stretched 
some other way, and there was no telHng where the assump- 
tion of power would end.^ 

While this discussion was going on, the question of locating 
the seat of government was also in dispute. The people of 
the North wanted it somewhere near them, on the Locating the 
Delaware River. The people of the South wanted capital 
it near them, on the Potomac River. Accordingly, a com- 
promise was made by both sides. The Southern statesmen 
agreed to have the government assume the debts of the States, 
and the Northern statesmen agreed that the capital should be 
on the Potomac River. By this compromise the government 
assumed the debts of the States, and the national capital was 
given its present location. 

The Revolution in America was followed in a few years 
by a Revolution in France. The common people of that 
country, outraged and exhausted by the auto- French 
cratic rule of their kings, burdened with taxes Revolution 
and ignored by their tyrannic rulers, rose in revolt, and pro- 
claimed France a republic. Riotous mobs in Paris destroyed 
an ancient prison, called the Bastille, in which the king had 
confined many of his subjects. To such fury did the revolu- 

^ The two great statesmen of that day were undoubtedly Hamilton, the 
Secretary of the Treasury, and Jefferson, the Secretary of State, in the cabinet 
of President Washington. They were soon political enemies, unable to agree, 
since they held such different views of the nature of the government. Hamilton 
and Jefferson had many a stormy debate around the table of the President, 
Hamilton insisting that the general government be given much power in itself, 
and Jefferson protesting that the people should retain as much power in their 
own hands as possible. Both these great minds have impressed themselves 
indelibly upon the institutions of the country. 



242 American History 

tion rise that the king, Louis XVI, was beheaded, many of 
the opponents of the repubhc were put to death by the guillo- 
tine, and a ''Reign of Terror" existed in France. 

Other nations became alarmed at the republican spirit 
of France and banded together to restore the French monarchy. 
War was declared between France and the other nations of 
Europe, including England. 

In America there was a strong sentiment in favor of the 
revolutionists in their struggle for Uberty, though 'every one 
deplored the lawlessness and excesses of the French mobs. 
In this situation the new French Repubhc sent its first 
minister to the United States. His name was Edmond Charles 
Genet, and he was called, ''Citizen, " because France had 
abohshed all titles. 

Citizen Genet landed in Charleston in April, 1793, and made 

an overland journey to Philadelphia. Everywhere he was 

received with enthusiasm, and greeted with 

Citizen Genet , , ^ . , ^ . 

applause. Mass meetmgs, banquets, and parades 
attended his progress northward, until the young Frenchman, 
for he was only twenty-eight years old, thought that America 
would surely declare war against the enemies of France. 

However, when he reached Philadelphia, which had become 
the seat of government, Washington received him coldly. 
The President had already issued a proclamation of neutrality, 
declaring that the United States should not take any part in 
European quarrels. 

In spite of the fact that France had been our 

American ^ • i i 

neutrauty in ally in our own war with England, it would have 
European ^^gg^ suicidal for US to come to her aid at this 
time. On our northern border the British held a 
long line of fur posts exteriding along the Great Lakes and 
westward. On the south and southwest the Spaniards were 



Establishing the Nation 



243 



ready to incite the Indians to hostility and invasion. To 
have joined France in her war would have been to loose the 
horrors of Indian warfare, to imperil our interests in the 
trading posts of the North, and to allow Spain to invade our 
helpless pioneer settlements in the Southwest. Neutrality 
was therefore a necessity, as well as a policy of prudence and 
wisdom. 

Genet was not dismayed by the proclamation of neutrality. 
He at once began to fit out privateers to prey on the commerce 




Mount Vernon, on the Potomac River, the Home of George Washington 



of England, and to stir up the people to opposition to the 
government. He became so offensive that Washington re- 
quested his recall, and soon after he left this country. The 
proclamation of Washington was accepted by the people as 
wise and prudent and became the acknowledged pohcy of our 
government. 

Washington was President for two terms, or eight years. 
He could have been elected for a third term, but he firmly 
refused, saying that he was tired of the cares of pubHc life, 
and that two terms were enough for one man. He was now 



244 American History 

getting old, and was anxious to retire from his long public 
service as soldier and statesman. 

After his second term of ofhce expired he returned to his 
home at Mount Vernon, on the Potomac River, and passed 
Old age and ^^^ remaining years in the peace and quiet of a 
death of country life. Here, December 14, 1799, he 

as ngton (^[q(\^ {yi his sixty-eighth year. His grave is at 
Mount Vernon, where thousands of visitors go every year to 
pay their tribute of love and veneration to this greatest of all 
our citizens. 

4. TROUBLE WITH FRANCE 

John Adams was the second President of the United 
States. He was in office for only one term of four years. 
Nearly all that time was occupied in a trouble that threat- 
ened war with France. 

England and France were still at war. The French 
thought that the United States should aid them in this 
war, since they had aided the United States in the Revo- 
lution. Washington, however, had been too wise to allow 
the young nation to become entangled in this way, and 
France was still nursing its wrath. 

In addition to this, the United States had a dispute with 
England, regarding the terms of the treaty of peace. The 
Trouble with British had not abandoned all the frontier forts, 
England although they had agreed to do so. The United 

States had not paid certain debts due to British sympathizers 
in America during the war. Besides this, the British ships 
began to seize American vessels on the way to France in 
order to prevent the selling of their cargoes in French 
ports. 

To prevent a war with Great Britain, Washington, while 



Establishing the Nation 



245 



he was President, had sent John Jay to England, who had 
made a treaty that was not very satisfactory to john jay's 
the people of America, 1794. *'"®**y 

By the terms of this treaty Great Britain agreed to sur- 
render the Northwestern forts by June i, 1796, and to pay 
all damages to our 
merchant vessels. 
The United States 
agreed to pay all 
debts due to Brit- 
ish subjects when 
the Revolution be- 
gan. But nothing 
was said in the 
treaty about our 
rights as neutrals, 
or about the right 
to search American 
vessels and seize 
American sailors. 

The treaty was 
received with a 
storm of protest 
in America. John 
Jay was burned in 
effigy, and Alexan- 
der Hamilton was 
stoned in New 

York while speaking in behalf of the treaty. The British 
flag was torn down in Charleston, and a pubHc demonstration 
was made before the house of the British consul. However, 
Washington knew that it was this treaty or another war, and 




John Adams 



246 American History 

that it was the best we could do. We were in no position to 
dictate terms. 

France, however, was provoked that we had made the 
treaty at all. She wanted us to go to war with her enemy, 
and, out of spite, began to annoy our commerce in the same 
way that England was doing. Our ships were seized at sea, 
the vessels and cargoes were sold in French ports, and the 
ministers we sent to France to protest against this action 
were insulted. 

This was the condition of affairs when Adams became 
President. It looked very much as if we should have war 
Trouble with with our old ally, the French. The President 
France (jj^j^ j^q|- desire this, and sent commissioners to 

France to treat with the French government. The French 
government, then known as the Directory, would not receive 
the commissioners. 

Three French persons called on the commissioners and 
told them that peace could be secured if they would pay a 
The X. Y. z. large sum of money to the directors themselves ; 
affair [^ other words, bribe them. To this the com- 

missioners returned an indignant and positive refusal. 
Charles C. Pinckney, one of the commissioners, uttered the 
ringing words, ''Milhons for defense; but not one cent for 
tribute." 

When President Adams reported the matter to Congress, 
he did not give the names of the three persons, but called 
them X. Y. Z. From this circumstance, it was known as 
the ^'X. Y. Z. Affair." 

The country now prepared for war. Washington was 

placed at the head of the army, and the commanders of our 

naval craft ordered to seize French vessels 

wherever they found them. War was not 



Establishing the Nation 247 

actually declared, but we were on the verge of it. Napoleon 
Bonaparte, now at the head of the French Repubhc, saw 
that we were going to defend our rights, and accordingly in 
1800 made a treaty that gave protection to our commerce 
and restored the old friendship between France and America. 
Shortly afterward peace was declared between France and 
England and the world ceased from warfare for a while. 

During the controversy with France, several newspapers in 
America were edited by foreigners, who abused the American 
government. To put a stop to this. Congress Alien and 
passed laws known as the Alien and Sedition Sedition laws 
laws. The Alien law gave the President the right to send 
out of the country any foreigner whose presence he thought 
was dangerous to our government. The Sedition law gave 
him the right to punish anybody who was abusing the govern- 
ment and stirring up the people against the authorities. 

These laws were very unpopular, however, because the 
people thought they took away their liberty of speech. The 
legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia passed resolutions de- 
claring the laws were contrary to the Constitution, and that 
the States had a right to refuse to obey them. These laws 
were never enforced. 

At the close of Adams's term of ofSce, in 1800, the seat 
of government was moved from Pliiladelphia to Washington. 
Washington himself had selected the site on Washington 
the Potomac River. A district ten miles square becomes the 
was ceded by Maryland to the general govern- ^^^^ ^ 
ment, to be known as the District of Columbia. It is in 
this district that the capital city, named for George Washing- 
ton, is situated. 

At the time the government was moved there, it was almost 
a wilderness. There was but one hotel. The house of the 



248 American History 

President was in an open field. This, with a few scattered 
houses along the unpaved streets, made up the town. It has 
since become one of the most beautiful cities in the world. 

5. THE INFLUENCE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 

In 1 80 1 Thomas Jefferson became the third President of 
the United States. 

He had been a leading man in Congress during the Revolu- 
tion. When he was thirty-three years old he wrote the 
Declaration of Independence, all except a few words that were 
put in by Adams and FrankHn. He took no part in the 
debates on the Declaration, which lasted for three days. 

When Jefferson left the Continental Congress he was 
elected a member of the legislature of Virginia. He thought 
Reforms in ^^^^ certain reforms were badly needed. Up to 
the laws of this time the law of Virginia allowed a man to 
1 entance ^^j j^^ ^^^^ estate to his descendants with con- 
ditions attached to it, such as not to divide the land up or 
even to sell it except in the way directed in the will. Also 
there was a law directing that if a man died without leaving 
a will, all his land went to his oldest son. Jefferson had 
these laws repealed, so that no man could leave his real estate 
entailed with conditions, and if he died without a will all 
his children shared alike. 

Up to this time the Episcopal Church was the estabhshed 

church in Virginia, and every one was taxed to support it, 

whether he belonged to it or not. Jefferson 

Author of . ■ 

reUgious introduced a bill in the legislature securing to 

liberty in every One freedom to worship as he chose, as well 

as exemption from punishment for rehgious behef , 

and from taxation for the support of any church. Jefferson 

. is called, "the author of rehgious Hberty in Virginia." 



Establishing the Nation 249 

He was also the founder of the great University of Vir- 
ginia, and planned a scheme for pubKc education at the 




Thomas Jefferson 

expense of the State, from the lowest grades through the 
University. 

It has been said that Jefferson never made a speech or 
fought a battle. He became great and famous through his 
writings and wise opinions. He was a deep thinker on all 
great questions regarding government. He introduced the 



250 



American History 



custom of having the President send a written message to 
Congress instead of making a speech. 

He believed very firmly in the rights of the States to decide 
certain questions for themselves. He was the founder of the 
Author of States' Rights doctrine, which held Congress to 
states' Rights a strict Construction of the Constitution. By this 
oc nne doctrine all powers not expressly given to Con- 

gress by the Constitution are to be closely construed as 
belonging to the States themselves. 

Jefferson has had a great influence on the institutions and 
history of our country. He was the founder and the first 




MONTICELLO, THE HOME OF ThOMAS JeFFERSON 

leader of the Anti-Federalist party, which became known 
as the Republican party, and which today is known as the 
Democratic party. His principles are often referred to as 
the Jeffersonian principles. 

Jefferson lived on a large estate in Virginia. He built 
himself a beautiful home near Charlottesville, called ''Monti- 
Life at cello," where he entertained with generous hospi- 
Monticeiio tality. As many as fifty people were sometimes 
guests in his house. He was known as ''the Sage of Monti- 
cello." 



Establishing the Nation 



25 



His habits 



He was a rare scholar, and seemed to know everything. 
He always rose early, and sometimes boasted that the sun had 
not caught him in bed for fifty years. He was 
an excellent horseman, a dead shot with a rifle, 
and a good violinist. His manners were friendly ; his dress 
plain and simple. 

As President he did not stand aloof from the people, but 
shook hands with all who came. He did not have at the 
White House the splendid 
balls and parties that the 
former Presidents had en- 
couraged, but lived simply 
and quietly, greatly be- 
loved and honored by all 
the people. 

Along the northern coast 
of Africa lay the Barbary 
The pirates of States. Their 

the Barbary ships were 

pirate vessels 
that infested the Mediter- 
ranean Sea and compelled 
all passing craft to pay 
tribute. To satisfy these 
pirates, and in fear of 

them, many nations of Europe had paid large sums of money 
to the Barbary States, on the condition that the pirates would 
let their vessels alone. The United States had also been paying 
this tribute for twenty years. 

The rulers of the Barbary States became very insolent, 
and sometimes added to the tribute money when it was late 
in coming, or wanted it paid in naval stores which they 



^W^ 


^S 


^tt^^HI 


M 


^M 


^^WB 


1 


% 


1 


■«s 




1 




- ' ^1 



Captain Bainbridge Resents the Insult 
OF THE Dey of Algiers 



252 



American History 



greatly undervalued. When Captain Bainbridge in 1800 car- 
ried the tribute money from the United States to Algiers, 

he was Tribute to 
made to ^^e pirates 

pull down the flag 
of his ship and run 
up that of Algiers. 
This was very in- 
sulting, and he 
said, ''I do this 
because there is no 
choice, but the 
next time I hope to 
deliver the tribute 
from the mouth of 
a cannon." 

The next year 
the ruler of Tripoli, 

one of War with 

the Bar- TrfpoU 
bary States, was 
incensed because 
he thought the trib- 
ute was not large 
enough. He de- 
clared war upon the United States. This was the very thing 
that our young navy wanted, for it was time to teach these 
insolent pirates a good lesson. 

Exploits of the The following year an American vessel, the 
Constellation Constellation, engaged nine Tripolitan gunboats 
in battle. Five of these were driven ashore, and the rest 
saved themselves by running under cover of the forts in a 




Stephen Decatur 



Establishing the Nation 253 

near-by harbor. By this time the pirates were beginning 
to have respect for the young navy of the United States. 

Shortly after this, one of the American frigates, the 
Philadelphia, ran aground off Tripoh. It was captured, and 
all the men thrown into prison. An American Lieutenant 
officer. Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, was sent to Stephen 
seize the ship and burn it. It was a cold night, a ^^^^^^ 
heavy gale was blowing, and Decatur with several men in a 
small ship started on his mission. He silently floated near 
the stranded ship, of which the enemy had possession. Not 
knowing who he was, the Tripolitans warned him away. But 
he came alongside, grappled the sides of the ship, and called 
out, ''Board her!" 

The Americans climbed on the Philadelphia and caught 
the Tripolitans unawares. With swords and pistols they 
made short work of those who did not have time Recapttire 
to jump overboard. The Philadelphia was then of the 
set on fire, and Decatur and his men escaped ^^'^°^^^^^^« 
safely to their own vessel, without the loss of a single man. 

This was enough for the Tripolitans. Peace was made, 
aU prisoners were ransomed, and the payment of the tribute 
money to the pirates ceased. All Europe rang with praise 
of the bravery and spirit of our naval officers and men. 
The value and necessity of warships became evident, and 
the pride of the people in their own resources and power 
was greatly increased. 

6. THE PURCHASE OF LOUISUNA 

At the end of the French and Indian War all the territory 
west of the Mississippi belonged to Spain. Spain also held 
the city of New Orleans and the mouth of the Mississippi 
River. Naturally the United States was anxious to add all 



254 American History 

this territory to its own domain, as well as to secure an outlet 
through the Mississippi to the Gulf. 

At that time New Orleans was a small town of eight or 
ten thousand people, living mainly in wooden houses. St. 
Louis was a fur trading post of not more than a thousand 
people, most of whom were boatmen or traders with the 
Indian tribes of the West. There were a few scattered villages 
along the river, but the main portion of the territory was 
occupied by Indians. So far as the interior of the territory 
itself was concerned, very little was known about it. 

Napoleon Bonaparte, now become First Consul of France, 
cast covetous eyes upon this vast domain in America, and 
Napoleon forced Spain to cede all the Louisiana territory to 
Bonaparte France. Just about that time the Spanish 
officer in New Orleans closed the mouth of the Mississippi 
River to American vessels, thereby depriving all the Western 
settlers of any means of reaching a market for their goods. 
This action aroused the West with indignation and resent- 
ment. There was nothing to do but to buy New Orleans from 
France in order to hold an open port at the mouth of the 
Mississippi. 

Jefferson sent James Monroe to join the American minister 
in Paris and offer to buy the island of New Orleans. Napoleon 
Louisiana ^^^ expecting another war with England. He 
Purchase, needed money badly, and saw that the French 
^^°^ could hardly hold any territory in America 

against so powerful an enemy as England. Therefore he 
offered to sell not only New Orleans but all the territory 
known as Louisiana, to the United States for fifteen million 
dollars. A treaty was duly made and ratified by the Senate 
in 1803, and the formal transfer of the territory was made in 
New Orleans in December of that year. 



Establishing the Nation 



255 



The United States came into possession of all the territory 
between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. 
This purchase doubled the territory of the United States, and 
removed a dangerous rival from our western borders. It was 
the most important act of Jefferson's administration. 

Jefferson's enemies taunted him by saying that the Con- 
stitution gave him no power to make the purchase, and that 
he was abandoning his own principles in doing so. To this 
he replied that the opportunity to make such a great bargain 




Lewis and Clark Ascend the Missouri 



was too golden to let slip, and that there could not possibly 
be any opposition to it. 

In order to explore the new territory, Jefferson sent two 
young men from Virginia, Lewis and Clark,^-with directions 
to go up the Missouri River, and across the Rocky Moun- 
tains, to the Pacific Ocean. The story of their adventures 
reads like a romance. 

They were gone nearly two years and a half, making 
maps of the regions that they explored, telling the Indians 

1 William, youngest brother of George Rogers Clark. 



256 American History 

of the change of ownership of the lands, and learning many 
facts about the great West. They suffered much hardship 
Lewis and ^^ times, but accomplished their mission, and 
Clark explore brought back a full report of their adventures 
Louisiana ^^ ^j^^ President, who had long since given them 
up as lost or dead. 

Thus we see our country expanding in territory and 
power. Settlers and explorers in the North had spread out 
New states ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ Vermont had grown into a State and 
enter the been admitted to the Union in 1791. Daniel 
^°^ Boone had already led his pioneers across the 

mountains of North Carolina, and so rapidly had settlers 
built homes along the rivers that in 1792 Kentucky also 
became one of the States. In the same way Robertson and 
Sevier had followed the Tennessee and the Cumberland 
rivers and opened up the great State of Tennessee, which 
entered the Union in 1796. 

Emigrants were also rapidly forming settlements along 
the Ohio River. In 1790 a village of log huts along the 
Westward river was named Cincinnati. People came so 
movement f^gt that in a few years all the Northwest Ter- 
ritory was alive with hardy pioneers. 

A tragic incident of the times was the duel between Hamilton 
and Burr. Aaron Burr, a prominent politician of New York, 
had long been the political enemy of Hamilton. He discovered 
that Hamilton had defeated his nomination for the governor- 
ship of New York. With bitter feelings he challenged Hamilton 
to a duel. Hamilton did not have the courage to refuse. 

In the gray dawn of a July day in 1804 the two men with 
their seconds met on the banks of the Hudson. Hamilton was 
nervous and undecided ; Burr was cool and determined. The 
men were placed in position, and the signal to fire was given. 



Establishing the Nation 257 

But one shot was heard, and Hamilton pitched forward on 
his face, shot through the body. As he fell, his pistol went 
off in the air, the ball passing over Burr's head. The next day 
Hamilton was dead, and the nation had lost one of its most 
brilHant men. 

Burr later was detected in a conspiracy to set up a Western 
republic. He was hunted down and tried, but was acquitted 
for lack of evidence. He passed his last days in neglect and 
want. 

7. THE RIGHT OF THE SEAS 

England and France were engaged in war. Napoleon 
was the Emperor of the French, and by his skill as a general 
was about to overrun most of Europe. Both of these nations 
had annoyed the American merchant vessels for a long time. 
Napoleon declared that our vessels should not trade with 
England. If they attempted to do so they would be cap- 
tured and destroyed. 

England, on the other hand, declared that American ves- 
sels should not trade with the French. In addition to this, 
England declared that she had a right to stop our impressing 
vessels on the high seas and examine the sailors seamen 
on board. If there were any English seamen among them, 
they were to be taken from our vessels by force and made 
to join the English navy. This was called ''impressing" 
the seamen, by the rule of ''once an Englishman always an 
Englishman." 

This had been going on for some time. Many of our 
ships had been stopped by the British war vessels, and even 
native-born Americans had been taken from them, until 
we had lost several thousand sailors. This was humiliating 
to our pride and destructive to our commerce. We bore 



258 American History 

it as long as we could, for we were not in condition to make 
war against England. 

In 1807 an American frigate, the Chesapeake, was going 
down the Potomac for a cruise in the Mediterranean. The 
The c/iesa- British frigate Leopard overhauled her, fired into 
/>eafeeandthe her, and killed several men. A searching party 
^^^^^ was sent on board the Chesapeake, and four sailors 

were taken away, three of whom were Americans. This was 
more than the country could endure, and a cry of indignation 
burst forth from one end of the land to the other. 

Congress made a law in 1807 that no American vessel 
should leave port to trade with foreign countries. This was 
The Embargo Called the Embargo Act, and was designed to cut 
of 1807 Q£f trade with England, thereby depriving her of 

the supplies she needed for the war with France. It hurt 
America as much as it did England. Ships and their cargoes 
lay rotting in the ports, seamen were thrown out of employ- 
ment, mills were stopped, and farmers ceased to raise crops. 
There was no available market for cloth, tobacco, cotton, or 
anything else. Everything declined in price, and business 
was at a standstill. 

It was soon evident that the Embargo could not last. The 
ship owners declared that they would rather lose a vessel or 
Non-Inter- a few men every now and then, than to lose 
course Act ^11 their business. In 1809 the Embargo Act 
was repealed, having been in operation for fourteen months, 
and having cost the country many millions of dollars. In 
place of the Embargo, Congress passed the Non-Intercourse 
Act, which forbade American vessels from trading with either 
England or France as long as they were hostile to the United 
States. 

At this juncture Jefferson's term expired, and James Madison 



Establishing the Nation 259 

became the fourth President of the United States (1809). 
Like Jefferson he was a man of peace, and was anxious to 
avoid trouble with any foreign nation. 

The British minister at Washington assured Madison that 
the Enghsh government would protect all American ves- 
sels that would trade exclusively with England. Action of 
Madison quickly and gladly announced that the England and 
Non-Intercourse Act was suspended so far as ^^"^^ 
England was concerned. Almost immediately the imprisoned 
fleet of merchant vessels spread their white sails for England. 

The British government, however, declared that their 
minister had promised too much, and that they would not 
agree to suspend the .searching of American vessels. Where- 
upon Madison in deep chagrin withdrew his announcement. 

Napoleon now promised the same thing for France, if our 
ships would not trade in English ports. Again we were 
deceived. As soon as our vessels reached Frenchr ports, 
they were seized and sold. Ten million dollars' worth of 
property fell into the hands of the French. 

To make matters worse, it was found that a famous Indian 
chief, Tecumseh, and his brother, The Prophet, had organized 
the Indian tribes of the Northwest into a great Battle of 
confederacy for the purpose of killing all the Tippecanoe 
whites or driving them out of the country. It was believed 
that England had secretly aided Tecumseh in the plot. 
Dreadful massacres occurred in many places. General 
William Henry Harrison, who later on was to become President 
of the United States, marched against the Indians. A battle 
was fought at Tippecanoe, November 7, 181 1, in which the 
savages were defeated. 

All these things taken together irritated the Americans 
beyond endurance. England declared that she had a right 



26o American History 

to search the American vessels and take from them all 
British sailors. The Americans refused to acknowledge this 
Second war right. England persisted in stopping our ships 
with England and impressing seamen for her own service. 
This was the reason that a second war with 
England was declared by Congress in 1812. 

8. THE WAR OF 1812 BEGUN 

At the beginning of the War of 181 2, the United States 
had eight milHons of people; England had twenty millions. 
England and '^^^ United States had a revenue of about ten 
America com- milHon dollars a year ; England had three hundred 
^*^® and fifty milhons. The United States had six- 

teen war vessels; England had over eight hundred. The 
United States had six thousand seamen ; England had one 
hundred and fifty thousand. 

There was a great difference between our young nation and 
its powerful enemy, but we shall see that we gave a good 
account of ourselves. 

The first movement in the war was to attack Canada. 
General Wilham Hull, an old hero of the Revolutionary War, 
was governor of Michigan. He received orders to invade 
Canada from the west, and started on the way. Hearing 
that a force of British and a body of Indians were mo\ing on 
Detroit, he quickly returned. In a short while the British 
and the Indians arrived and demanded the surrender of the 
fort, on pain of a general massacre in case of refusal. 

The old general should have given battle and died in de- 
fense of the place if need be, but he was so alarmed for the 
Surrender of Safety of his men and for the women and children 
Detroit ^f ^j^g place, that without waiting to be attacked 

and without firing a gun, he surrendered his army and the 



Establishing the Nation 



261 



fort (August 16, 1812). This was a bad beginning of the 
war, for it gave Detroit and all Michigan to the British. The 
people were indignant at the apparent cowardice of General 
Hull. He was court-martialed for his act and sentenced to 
be shot. President 
Madison, however, 
pardoned him on ac- 
count of his past rec- 
ord in the Revolution. 

The Americans had 
expected great things 
from their land forces, 
but all the attempts 
made against Canada 
ended most disas- 
trously. They had not 
expected much from 
the Uttle navy, but 
it was from our few 
battleships that the 
greatest glory was won. 

Three days after 
the surrender of De- 
troit the American 
vessel Constitution, in 
command of Captain 
Isaac Hull, a nephew 

of General WilHam Hull, fell in with the British man-of-war 
Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia. The fight lasted 
only a half -hour, but at the end the British ship was a 
hopeless wreck. It was surrendered to Captain Hull, who 
blew it up with powder, and then sailed away to Boston with 




General Hull in a Panic of Fear Surrenders 
Detroit without Striking a Blow 



262 



American History 



his prisoners. This was a great victory. The Constitution 
was hardly damaged, and was henceforth known as Old Iron- 
sides. Hull was voted a gold medal by Congress, and fifty 
thousand dollars was divided among the men as prize money. 
In October the American sloop Wasp fell in with the British 
brig Frolic of! the coast of North Carolina. The vessels lay 
alongside each other, both being fearfully damaged in the 




The "Constitution" Engages the "Guerriere' 



fight. When they grappled and the Americans boarded the 
Frolic, they found only the man at the wheel and two officers. 
The others had run below for safety. There were hardly 
twenty men on board that were unhurt. This would also 
have been a great victory, if a British gunship had not sud- 
denly appeared and captured the almost helpless American 
vessel. 

One week later Stephen Decatur, in command of his frigate, 
the United States, met the English frigate Macedonian. After 



Establishing the Nation 263 

a fight which lasted only a short time, the English com- 
mander surrendered, having lost ten times as many men as 
Decatur. When the EngKsh vessel was boarded, 

. 1 r 1 • 1 1 "^h® United 

Decatur was surprised to nnd it commanded states and 
by one of his old friends. When he offered De- *^® Macedo- 
catur his sword, Decatur said, ''I cannot take 
a sword from a man who has so bravely defended his ship." 

In December, the Constitution, now under command of 
Commodore Bainbridge, engaged the British ship Java off 
the coast of Brazil. This battle lasted several other vic- 
hours, and the American guns shot away every tones on the 
mast from the British ship, and opened her hull ^^^ 
with round shot. The Java surrendered, with the loss of her 
captain and over a hundred men. The Constitution had lost 
only thirty-four. 

The war thus carried on at sea was a series of almost un- 
broken victories. In six months the American navy had cap- 
tured three British frigates, many smaller vessels, and any 
number of privateers. The British had captured but three 
small vessels. All the world was sounding the praises of the 
bravery, skill, and marksmanship of the American sailors in 
their contest with the mighty nation which up to this time 
had not met its match on the sea. 

In June, 1813, occurred the battle between the American 
frigate Chesapeake and the British ship Shannon. The Chesa- 
peake was in the harbor of Boston undergoing ^j^^ chesa- 
repairs. Captain Lawrence being in command. Peake and 
The British ship, cruising outside, challenged Law- *^^ ^^^^rion 
rence to come out and fight. The Chesapeake was not quite 
ready, and the crew were not at all wilHng, but Lawrence put 
out to sea. The ships engaged, and in a few minutes the 
Chesapeake was completely disabled by the shots of the enemy. 



264 



American Histoiy 



Captain Lawrence was mortally wounded, and was carried 
below in a critical condition. He kept saying to those around 




Captain Lawrence, as He Was Borne Below, Cried Out to His Men, "Don't 
Give Up the Ship!" 



him, ''Don't give up the ship." The vessel became the 
prize of the Shannon, but the dying words of the brave com- 
mander have been the inspiration of every American sailor 
since that day. 



Establishing the Nation 265 

September 10, 18 13, a great victory was won on Lake Erie 
by Oliver H. Perry, who was not yet thirty years of age, and 
who up to this time had never commanded a ship in battle. 
He had been assigned to the command of the American fleet 
on Lake Erie. 

When he reached the lake he found almost no fleet. He 
set to work with ship carpenters, and cutting down the trees 
near the shore he made five vessels and fitted them for serv- 
ice. To these were added four more vessels, and over all 
the commander's flag floated, bearing the words, ''Don't give 
up the ship." 

Soon the British fleet of six vessels was encountered, and 
a battle ensued. Perry's ship was literally cut to pieces, 
the decks ran with blood, and were covered Battle of 
with the dead and dying. In the midst of the ^^^® ^"® 
battle, and amid a hail of bullets from the enemy, he lowered 
a boat, took his little brother, twelve years old, and ordered 
the crew to row him to another ship. It was a dangerous 
trip. The boat was the target of every gunner that could see 
it, but as by a miracle Perry reached the other ship in safety. 

The end of the battle was a great victory for Perry and his 
homemade ships. The British surrendered to the young 
officer, who immediately wrote a dispatch to General Har- 
rison as follows : ''We have met the enemy, and they are ours ; 
two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop." This 
victory gave the Americans command of Lake Erie, and the 
British withdrew from Detroit. 

From now on to the end of the war many naval battles 
occurred from time to time. We need not mention them, nor 
were they very important. It is sufficient to say The priva- 
that our little navy, aided by privateers, did great *®®^^ 
damage to the British commerce. One privateer captured 



266 



American History 



twenty-seven merchant vessels in a month. ' Another cap- 
tured twenty. In two years and a half over fourteen hun- 
dred English ships with cargoes valued at many milHons of 
dollars were captured by these swift-saiHng privateers. Of 
course the American foreign trade Was practically destroyed, 
for the British ships watched our coasts Hke hawks, ready to 
swoop down on our merchant vessels if they ventured outside. 



9. THE WAR OF 1812 CONCLUDED 

Let us now return to the operations on land. Perry's 
victory on Lake Erie had opened the way for another cam- 
Battle of the paign against Canada. The British moved out of 
Thames Detroit, pursued by General Harrison. They 

were overtaken at the Thames River. The British ofhcer 
ran away, but old Tecumseh, the Indian chief, stood his 




The War of 1812 on the Canadian Frontier 

ground. He had said the night before the battle that he was 
going to die there. So it was, for he fell bleeding from many 
wounds, and his followers were badly beaten. The alliance 
of the Indians and the British was broken, and the Ohio ter- 
ritory was free from danger of invasion. 



Establishing the Nation 



267 



The inhabitants of Georgia and Alabama were threatened 
with Indian warfare. The Creeks had been aroused long 
before by the appeals of Tecumseh. They had Massacre at 
descended on Fort Mims, not far from Mobile. ^°^* ^^^^ 
One day while the sentinels were careless, the guns laid aside, 
and the gates open, the Creeks burst upon the fort and mas- 
sacred three hundred men, women, and children. 




Tecumseh at the Battle oe the Thames 



Retribution came swiftly. General Andrew Jackson, of 
Tennessee, with a body of regulars, pursued the savages 
ruthlessly. They made a last stand at the Horseshoe Bend 
on the Tallapoosa River. There a thousand warriors were 
gathered with their squaws and children. After the battle 
six hundred were dead, and the rest scattered in every direc- 
tion. The power of the Indians in the South was broken 
forever. ' 

In the summer of 1814 two battles were fought iiear Ni- 
agara Falls. One was at Chippewa and the other at Lundy's 



268 American History- 

Lane. In the first battle the British were repulsed; but in 
the next, which was fought for five hours in the darkness of 
night, the result was uncertain. Both sides claimed the 
victory. 

The British in the meantime had blockaded all the Amer- 
ican ports. Their huge navy ranged along the Atlantic 
The city of coast, and frequently descended on some small 
Washington village, which they plundered and destroyed. In 
capture August, 1814, a fleet sailed up the Chesapeake 

Bay and landed a body of troops a few miles from Wash- 
ington. Scattering the Americans before them, the British 
marched upon the capital, then a town of eight thousand 
people, and entered it without opposition. 

President Madison fled in haste, with all the members of 
his Cabinet. Mrs. Madison hastily collected some of the 
silver and a few valuable relics, including the Declaration 
of Independence and a fine portrait of Washington, and left 
just in time to escape capture. The dinner had been laid 
for the President and his friends, but the British enjoyed the 
feast that had been prepared for others. 

The pubhc buildings were at the mercy of the British. 
The Capitol, the President's House, the Treasury building, 
the navy yards, and many private buildings were burned. It 
was a piece of ruthless warfare which admitted of no defense. 
Even in England there was a general feehng that the destruc- 
tion of non-warhke buildings was an outrage inconsistent 
with civiHzed warfare. 

The same force started for Baltimore. Their ships came 
Attack on in sight of the city and began to bombard Fort 
Baltimore McHcury, which was the main defense. All day 
long and late into the night the British poured shot against 
the walls of the fort, over which floated the American flag. 



Establishing the Nation 



269 



The people of Baltimore anxiously watched the result. When 
morning came and they saw the flag of their country still 
waving over the fort, their joy knew no bounds. The British 
had sailed down the Chesapeake, and Baltimore was safe. 

It was on this occasion that Francis S. Key of Baltimore 
wrote the beautiful poem, ''The Star-Spangled Banner.'* 
He was a prisoner on board a British ship, and .. -^j^^ g^^y_ 
all night long, by the flash of the guns, he had Spangled 
watched the waving of the American flag over the ^^^^^ 
fort. In the morning the flag was still there. On the back 
of an old letter he wrote the beautiful lines of the poem, 
which the people :^- 

from one end of 
the country to the 
other took up as 
a national song of 
rejoicing. 

About the same 
time a British force 
moved down from 
Canada to attack 
New York. They 
came by way of 
Lake Champlain 
in a fleet of ves- 
sels. Commodore 
McDonough was in 
command of a small American fleet, and gave battle to the 
invaders at Plattsburg Bay. 

At the very first fire of the enemy a chicken coop was 
broken open on one of the American vessels, and out flew a 
young rooster, that perched upon one of the guns and began 




Jackson at the Battle oe New Orleans 



270 American History 

to crow loudly. The soldiers cheered as the rooster crowed. 
They handled their guns so bravely that in a few hours all 
Invasion from the British ships were in full flight for safety. 
Canada xhis put an end to the invasion from Canada. 

The last battle of the war was at New Orleans in Janu- 
ary, 181 5. The British General Packenham landed below 
Battle of the city with eight thousand men. General An- 

New Orleans (Jrew Jackson defended it with half that number. 
He had built fortifications of earth, stones, cotton bales, logs, 
and of anything else he could get. The battle began at 
daybreak, and was over in two hours. It was a wonderful 
victory. The British had twenty-six hundred men killed and 
wounded. General Jackson lost only seventy-five men. 

This battle was fought after peace had been declared be- 
tween the two countries. A treaty between the United States 
Treaty of and Great Britain had been signed at Ghent, in 
Ghent Belgium, December 24, 1814, which was to end 

the war. There were no telegraph or cable Hnes in those days 
to bring the news, and it was many weeks before it reached 
America. 

Strange to say, the treaty did not mention the question of 
searching American vessels, the very thing the war was fought 
about. It was not necessary, for it was understood that the 
American claims were allowed, and our merchant ships should 
no longer be molested. 

The war had cost the country over a hundred million dol- 
lars. Thirty thousand Hves had been lost, a great number of 
vessels captured by the enemy, and all commerce practically 
destroyed. 

It had never been a popular war with the people of New 
England. Toward the end several of the New England 
States had called a convention at Hartford to protest against 



Establishing the Nation 271 

some measures which they thought were in violation of the 
Constitution. It was understood that in case Congress did 
not attend to the complaint of these New England The Hartford 
States and stop the war which was so ruinous to Convention 
their commerce, measures would be taken by them looking 
to their withdrawal from the Union. Before the Convention 
could present its protest to Congress, however, word arrived 
that peace had been declared. 

The country now gladly returned to peaceful pursuits. 
The world had learned that we could take care of ourselves 
on land and on sea, and that henceforth our mer- Lessons from 
chant ships should be respected. The beginning *^® "^^^ 
of a long era of peace and prosperity found the nation ready 
and willing to build up the great country they had won 
through two dreadful wars. 

During the War of 181 2 an inspector of supplies for the 
army at Troy marked all the boxes with the name of the 
contractor, and then stamped U. S. on them, origin of 
meaning, of course. United States. The inspector, "Uncie Sam" 
however, was generally known in town as Uncle Sam, and 
some one said in a joke that he put his initials on the boxes 
to let the boys in the army know he was thinking about 
them. The joke spread outside of the town and into the 
army. The soldiers would say, " Here is something from 
Uncle Sam." After a while nearly everybody was saying 
it, and today we often hear the United States spoken 
of as Uncle Sam. 

10. THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING 

In 18 1 7 James Monroe became the fifth President of the 
United States. He also was from Virginia, as were Wash- 
ington, Jefferson, and Madison before him. That noble 



272 American History- 

State had furnished four out of five of the first Presidents. 
For that reason Virginia is often called "The Mother of 
Presidents." 

Monroe had just graduated from William and Mary College 
when the Revolution began. He laid aside his books, joined 
the army as many other young men did, and fought bravely 
in several battles. He had been Minister to several countries 
abroad, Governor of Virginia, and Secretary of State while 
Madison was President. 

Monroe was of a gentle disposition, industrious, generous, 
and amiable. It was a time of political peace. The eight 
The Era of years that he was President are known as the 
Good FeeUng < ' j^^Si of G ood FecHng. ' ' When he was inaugurated 
he stood by the ruins of the Capitol, which the British had 
burned, and which the workmen were busily engaged in restor- 
ing, calHng upon the people to rebuild their country upon the 
desolation of war, and foretelling a long season of prosperity. 

There was now practically but one political party. The 
old Federalist party had almost ceased to exist. Every one 
belonged to the RepubHcan party, which was the new name 
for the Anti-Federalist party. 

When the time came for Monroe's election for a second 
term, he received the votes of all the delegates but one, and 
that delegate said he voted against him because he wanted 
Washington to be the only President who ever received a 
unanimous vote. 

The people now turned their attention to internal improve- 
ments, and to the building up of manufactures. They had 
Internal already learned this lesson well during the war, 

improvements fQ^ trade being cut off from Europe, the people 
were obHged to depend upon themselves. Home production 
became a necessity. Mills, foundries, factories, and many 



Establishing the Nation 273 

other kinds of industries sprang up all over the country. 
They prospered because they had no foreign competition. 

Now that the war was over, the ports of the country were 
open to foreign trade. Ships from England began to arrive, 
fleet after fleet, laden with Enghsh goods. In a Foreign 
few years the imports had increased tenfold, competition 
Enghsh labor was skilled, and EngHsh goods were well made 
and cheap. The EngHsh merchants threatened to undersell 
the American merchants on American soil. There was no 
considerable duty on these imported goods, and England was 
able to lay them down here cheaper than we could make goods 
like them. In this predicament the American manufacturers 
began to see the milhons of dollars they had invested in mills 
and factories endangered by foreign competition. 

To prevent this disaster the manufacturers appealed to 
Congress to increase the duties^ on certain foreign goods, so 
that they could not be sold in America at a less price than 
the American manufacturers could afford to make the same 
kind and quahty of goods. In other words, the manufacturers 
wanted protection. 

Up to this time the duty on foreign goods had been chiefly 
to raise a revenue to pay the expenses of government. This 
was called a tariff for revenue only. Now when Desire for 
this tariff was increased on certain articles to protection 
prevent them from being sold for less than the same kind of 
articles that were manufactured at home could be profitably 
sold, it was called a tariff for protection, or a protective tariff. 

^It is well to understand that when a foreign-made article is brought into 
this country the importer pays a charge upon it. This is called the duty and 
is added to the first price of the article to be paid by the purchaser. The 
home manufacturer pays no duty, hence he can get more profit on his product 
than the man who imports goods from abroad. The duty thus protects the home 
manufacturer by increasing the cost of foreign goods. 



274 American History 

Congress passed a Protective Tariff Act in 1816. It im- 
posed a high duty on foreign cotton and woollen goods, to 
TheProtec- encourage home mills. In the same way were 
tive Tariff taxed Other foreign goods which came into compe- 
of 1816 tition with home productions. The principle of 

tariff for protection and the question of what things should 
be protected and how far, have ever since been a cause of 
dispute and difference among the people. Pohtical parties 
have been formed, sections have been divided, and statesmen 
have contended over the tariff. 

As a general thing, we may say that those portions of our 
country where manufacturing is the main industry of the 
people, and where protection for articles to be sold is most 
needed, have strongly favored a high tariff. 

Those portions of our country that are agricultural and 
where manufactured articles of all sorts have to be bought 
have wanted a low tariff. 

At the time that the protective tariff was passed, all sec- 
tions of the country agreed that it was a wise measure. The 
agricultural States of the South wanted good prices for cotton 
goods ; the Western States wanted protection for hemp, flax, 
and their other products ; the manufacturers of New England 
wanted their mills to flourish. So for a time everybody was 
content, and the era of good feehng was undisturbed. 

11. THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE 

Let us take a look at the condition of the country at this 

time. You will remember that during the Revolution there 

were only thirteen States. Shortly after the war 

Ohio admitted . . ^i r i i X^ 

ended, Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee were 
admitted to the Union. Then a great tide of immigration 
set in westward, and the Ohio River was full of boats carrying 



Establishing the Nation 275 

people into the Northwest Territory. So rapidly was the 
country settled, that in 1803 Ohio was admitted as a State. 
Thus at the beginning of the century the thirteen States had 
grown to seventeen. 

Nine years passed before another State came in. The 
southern part of the great territory of Louisiana, which 
Jefferson had bought from France, appHed for Louisiana 
admission in 1812. It was admitted under the admitted 
name of Louisiana, making eighteen States in the Union 
during the War of 181 2. 

The Northwest Territory kept filling up, and the people 
kept going westward. Indiana was admitted in 

rC ^ rT.1 o 1 ^ ^ ^ ' i Other Statcs 

1816. I he Southwest was also developmg, and 
Mississippi became a State in 1817. Then IlHnois was ad- 
mitted in 1818, and Alabama in 1819. 

We see, therefore, that in 18 19, there were twenty- two 
States. All the territory east of the Mississippi, except the 
present States of Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, and Maine, 
had been organized, and one State beyond the Mississippi 
had been admitted. 

Not only were new States entering the Union, but new 
territory was being acquired. Florida, which by the Treaty 
of Paris was still a Spanish possession, was a source of annoy- 
ance. The government was inefficient and the territory be- 
came a resort of pirates and robbers, and the retreat of run- 
away slaves from Georgia and Alabama. Even the Seminole 
Indians in Florida could not be kept down, but salHed forth 
from the swamps and forests, attacked farms and villages, 
and destroyed much property in Georgia. 

This was very irritating, and General Andrew Jackson was 
sent to put an end to all these outrages. This he proceeded to 
do in his vigorous way. Spain now wisely agreed to sell the 



Establishing the Nation 277 

territory of Florida to the United States for the sum of five mil- 
lion dollars (1819) . In this way another great terri- The purchase 
tory was added to the domain of the United States. °^ Florida 

So far all the States had been admitted very peaceably to 
the Union. Some had come in as slaveholding States, and 
some as Free States. There were many people in 

, ,^ , 1 • 1 o 1 1 1 1 Slaveholding 

the ISorth and some m the South who thought 
that slavery was a great evil, and that slaveholding ought to 
be aboUshed, or, at least, restrained. It had been forbidden 
by the Constitution as well as by special law to import slaves 
after the year 1808. By the Ordinance of 1787 it had been 
determined that there should be no Slave States in the North- 
west Territory. 

All the States from Pennsylvania north had freed their 
slaves before 1820, and the slaveholding States were now in 
the South, where cotton was grown in great quantities and 
slaveholding was profitable. 

When Missouri apphed for admission to the Union, a great 
dispute arose over the question of slavery. The people of 
Missouri wanted that State to be admitted as a Disputes over 
Slave State. Those who were opposed to slavery slavery 
insisted that there were enough Slave States already, and that 
Missouri should come in as a Free State. 

For nearly two years the debate was carried on with bit- 
terness. At last a compromise was agreed upon. It was 
as follows : Missouri should be admitted as a „, , . 

Clay brings 

Slave State, with the understanding that there- about the 
after all States to be formed out of the territory Missouri ^ 
west and northwest of Missouri, that is, above the 
parallel of 36° 30', should come in as Free States. Congress 
agreed to this, and Missouri was admitted (1821). This 
measure is known as the '' Missouri Compromise." 



278 American History- 

Henry Clay of Kentucky was prominent in bringing about 
this happy solution of the difficulty. On account of his many 




Henry Clay 

adroit measures in securing compromise legislation, he is often 
spoken of as "The Great Pacificator." 

The effect of the Missouri Compromise was to exclude 
slaveholding from all Western States north of the southern 
boundary line of Missouri, except in that one State. In the 
meantime Maine had been admitted to the Union as a Free 



Establishing the Nation 279 

State in 1820. The Slave States and the Free States were 
still equal in number. 

The aged Jefferson was opposed to slavery, yet he favored 
its extension to Missouri, hoping thereby to scatter its influ- 
ence without increasing the evil. He said, after Jefferson's 
the compromise had been agreed upon, "The views on 
question sleeps for the present, but it is not dead : ^ ^"^^^^ 
I thank God I shall not Hve to witness the issue. This mo- 
mentous question, like a fire bell in the night, awakened me 
and filled me with terror." 

12. THE MONROE DOCTRINE 

About the time that the United States was obtaining the 
territory of Florida from Spain, that country was having 
trouble with her South American colonies. For Spanish 
three centuries Spain had ruled her American misrule in 
colonies with an iron hand of tyranny and ex- ®"*^^ 
tortion. Taxes were burdensome beyond endurance, trade 
laws were oppressive, and colonial policies were harsh and 
inconsiderate. 

The Spanish colonies rose in revolt. Mexico, Peru, Chile, 
Venezuela, Colombia, and Argentina threw off the Spanish 
yoke, set up governments of their own, and prepared to de- 
fend their independence. 

In Europe, the older governments had been alarmed at the 
rise of repubHcan ideas. A number of the powers had formed 
an agreement known as the Holy AlHance. Its The Holy 
purpose was to give mutual aid in putting down Aiuance 
any revolution that might occur. This was easily carried 
out in Europe, and whenever an outbreak occurred in any 
country in the AlHance, the others would help to restore 
the old order of things. The ancient mpnarchies banded 



28o American History 

together to defend ''the divine right of kings" and to prevent 
the spread of democratic ideas of freedom of the people, and 
popular government. 

The alKes turned their attention to the condition of affairs 
in South America. They began to consider how the revolted 
colonies might be restored to Spain. Possibly they hoped 
that Spain would reward some or all of them by Hberal 
grants of territory in South America, thus giving them a 
foothold on that side of the Atlantic. 

England was the only European country that opposed this 
interference in South American affairs. The most severe 
measures of warfare, however, failed to subdue the sturdy 
South American repubHcs, and by 1822 almost all of them 
had practically gained their independence of Spanish rule. 

In the meanwhile, Russia, not satisfied with owning Alaska, 
had issued an order reserving all trade and fishing on the 
Demand of northwest coast as far down as the fifty-first 
Russia parallel of latitude exclusively to Russian subjects, 

and forbidding all foreigners to come within one hundred miles 
of the coast. This seemed to encroach upon the territory of 
the United States, and there was no telHng how far down the 
coast the Russians would extend their demands. 

In view of the situation in South America and the action 
of Russia, it appeared to President Monroe that the Euro- 
pean nations were trying to establish colonies in America. 
This would be a source of danger and annoyance to our gov- 
ernment. John Quincy Adams, who was then the Secretary 
of State, informed the Russian minister that the United 
States would take the position that the American continents 
were no longer open to colonization by any European power. 
The time had come for the estabHshment of colonies in Amer- 
ica to cease. 



Establishing the Nation 281 

President Monroe in 1823 sent his famous message to 
Congress in which he said : 

The American colonies, by the free and independent condi- 
tion that they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth 
not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any 
European powers. 

We should consider any attempt on their part to extend their 
system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our 
peace and safety. We could not view any interposition for the 
purpose of opposing them [Mexico and the South American re- 
publics] or controlling their destiny by any European power, in 
any other light than as a manifestation of an unfriendly disposi- 
tion towards the United States. 

This declaration is known as the ^' Monroe Doctrine." It is 
not a law of the land, but is merely a statement by President 
Monroe of the policy of the United States. In Monroe 
plain words, it means that no European nation doctrine 
should henceforth found any colonies in America, nor inter- 
fere in the affairs of any American country. This appeared 
so wise and prudent that it has been enforced by all parties 
and Presidents since that day as one of the settled principles 
of our government. 

When Monroe asked Jefferson's advice about it, that aged 
statesman replied that our first maxim should be never to 
entangle ourselves in the broils of Europe ; our second, never 
to suffer Europe to intermeddle with affairs on this side of 
the Atlantic. 

The message of Monroe had its effect. England joined the 
United States in demanding that the allies let the South 
American repubhcs alone. Shortly afterwards a treaty was 
made with Russia which settled the limits of her claim on 
the northwest coast. The Monroe Doctrine was announced 



282 American History 

in Europe, and has never been contested by any of its gov- 
ernments. 

One happy event closed the term of President Monroe. 
The aged Lafayette made a visit to the United States in 
Visit of 1824. He came as a guest of the nation, and 

Lafayette spent a year travehng through the country. 
Everywhere he was received with affection. The old soldiers 
wept when they saw him, and the times of the great war for 
independence were recalled at banquets and public occasions. 

The nation was glad to do honor to its famous guest, the 
friend of Washington and the steadfast defender of the lib- 
erties of the people. Congress voted him two hundred thou- 
sand dollars, and gave him twenty-four thousand acres of 
land. When he returned to France he was followed by the 
prayers and blessings of a grateful nation. 

TOPICS 

The Critical Period. Population at close of Revolution. Appear- 
ance of the cities. Financial distress; value of money. How the 
Revolution held the colonies together. Continental Congress ; Articles 
of Confederation; their limited powers. Disputes after the war. 
Shays's rebellion. Discord. The Northwest Territory; organizing the 
Northwest Territory. Reasons for a better union. 

The Constitution of the United States. Constitutional Convention. 
Discussion; agreement. The three departments. The legislative de- 
partment; senators; representatives; elections; Congress. Making 
the laws. Powers of Congress. The President ; his duties ; his powers. 
The White House. The judicial department; the Supreme Court; 
other courts. 

Problems before the New Government. The Federalist party; 
Alexander Hamilton. RepubHcan party ; Thomas Jefferson. Difference 
in the parties. George Washington, President. The money question. 
The financial genius of Hamilton ; his scheme and proposition ; opposi- 
tion to Hamilton. Locating the capital ; the compromise. The French 



Establishing the Nation 283 



Revolution ; European war ; American sentiment. Citizen Genet ; 
his reception by the people. Washington's proclamation; reason for 
neutrality. Genet's conduct; his recall. Washington's retirement; 
his death at Mt. Vernon. 

Trouble with France. Dispute with England. John Jay's treaty; 
its terms ; how it was received in America ; demonstrations of the people. 
The French annoy our commerce. Commissioners sent to France, The 
proposal to the Commissioners. The X. Y. Z. Affair. Preparation for 
war ; how war was averted. Alien and Sedition laws. The Kentucky 
and Virginia resolutions. Washington becomes the capital. 

The Influence of Thomas Jefferson. His part in the Revolution. 
Reform in the laws of Virginia. Reform in the church laws of Virginia. 
Founding the University of Virginia. His character ; political belief ; 
founder of political party. Monticello. His habits ; his simpUcity. 
The Barbary pirates. Tribute money. Captain Bainbrldge. Declara- 
tion of war. The exploits of the Constellation. Exploit of Stephen 
Decatur. 

The Purchase of Louisiana. Spanish possessions in North America. 
New Orleans and St. Louis. Napoleon Bonaparte forces cession of 
territory from Spain. Closing the mouth of the Mississippi ; protest 
from the West. How Jefferson purchased Louisiana. The territory 
purchased ; Jefferson's enemies and his reply. Lewis and Clark ; their 
explorations. New States enter the union. 

The Right of the Seas. The French annoy American commerce. 
England declares for right of search. Impressing seamen. Searching 
the Chesapeake. The Embargo of 1807 ; its effect on trade. Raising 
the Embargo ; the Non-Intercourse Act. Monroe becomes President. 
Action of England and France. Tecumseh. The battle of Tippecanoe. 
Second war with England. 

The War of 181 2 Begun. Comparison between England and America. 
Movements of General William Hull. The surrender of Detroit. The 
Constitution and the Guerriere. Old Ironsides. The Wasp and the 
Frolic. The United States and the Macedonian. The Constitution and 
the Java. The Chesapeake and the Shannon ; result of battle ; last 
words of Lawrence. Oliver H. Perry on Lake Erie. Incidents of the 
battle of Lake Erie. Perry's message. Privateers. 

The War of 1812 Concluded. The battle of the Thames ; Tecumseh. 
Massacre at Fort Mims. Andrew Jackson and Horseshoe Bend. Two 



284 American History- 

battles near Niagara Falls. Advance on Washington ; entering the city. 
Flight of the President and cabinet ; Mrs. Madison. Destruction of 
property. Bombardment of Fort McHenry; retreat of the British; 
the " Star-Spangled Banner. " Invasion from Canada. Battle of New 
Orleans. Treaty of Ghent. Cost of the war. The Hartford Conven- 
tion. Lessons from the war. 

, The Era of Good Feeling. James Monroe. " The Mother of Presi- 
dents." Character of Monroe. The Era of Good Feeling. Inauguration 
of Monroe. Party lines. Reelection of Monroe. Industrial prosperity. 
Foreign competition ; danger to home trade and industry. Demand for 
protective duties. Tariff for revenue compared with a tariff for protec- 
tion. The Protective Tariff of 1816. A high tariff; a low tariff. 

The Missouri Compromise. The admission of new States. Number 
of Sates in 1803. Number of States during War of 181 2. Number of 
States in 1819. Territory organized. Menace from Florida ; Seminole 
Indian raids. Purchase of Florida. Slaveholding in the new States. 
Differences of opinion. Slaveholding confined to the South. Dispute 
over the admission of Missouri. The Missouri Compromise. Henry 
Clay. Effect of the Compromise. Jefferson's views on slavery. 

The Monroe Doctrine. The policy of Spain in America. Revolt 
of Spanish colonies. The Holy Alliance ; its purpose. The action and 
the hopes of the allies. Demands of Russia. Notice to Russia. Mon- 
roe's message. The Monroe Doctrine ; its meaning ; Jefferson's opinion. 
The effect of the message. Visit of Lafayette. 

SUBJECTS FOR STUDY 

Of what advantage is a union of all the States? Why was the Con- 
stitution necessary to make the United States? Discuss the relative 
merits of power in the central government and power in the State govern- 
ments. Why is it necessary for all nations to have the freedom of the 
seas? Discuss the relative merits of tariff for revenue and tariff for pro- 
tection. Of what advantage is the Monroe Doctrine to the United 
States? 4 

COMPOSITION 

Write the names and duties of the three departments of our govern- 
ment. 



Establishing the Nation 285 

Write what you consider to be the most striking characteristics of 
Jefferson. 

If you had been with Lewis and Clark, write an account of your ad- 
ventures. 

Write the supposed story of a seaman taken from his own vessel by 
British officers, 

MAP STUDIES 

Define the lines of the Northwest Territory. Locate the Barbary 
States and Tripoli. Define the limits of the Louisiana Purchase. Out- 
line the Lewis and Clark expedition. Locate the battle of Lake Erie; 
the battle of the Thames ; Fort Mims. Define the line of the Missouri 
Compromise. 

Collateral Reading. " Old Ironsides," by 0. W. Holmes. " The 
Star-Spangled Banner," by Francis S. Key. 



Chapter IX 
THE PROGRESS OF THE NATION 

1. GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY 

In 1824 there were four candidates for the Presidency : 
WiUiam H. Crawford, of Georgia, Andrew Jackson, of Ten- 
nessee, Henry Clay, of Kentucky, and John Quincy Adams, 
of Massachusetts. No one of the four receiving a majority 
of the electoral votes, it became the duty of the House of 
Representatives to elect a President. 

John Quincy Adams was chosen President. He was the son 
of John Adams, the second President. He was not a popular 
President, for he was an austere, cold, and reserved man, 
although an honest and capable one. 

Fifty years had gone by and the Republic had grown to ten 
million people. The thirteen States had become twenty-four. 
The territory had been extended to the Gulf of Mexico and 
across the continent to the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific 
Ocean. It is true that the vast region west of the Mississippi 
was settled in a few places only, and the Indians still roamed 
over its plains, but the land was ours and the eager eyes 
of many pioneers were already fastened upon its treasures of 
soil and forests. 

A tide of immigration from the Old World had brought 
many people to America. The oppressed and 
poverty-stricken people of Europe, soldiers re- 
leased from the armies, and adventurers bent upon better for- 
tunes, turned their faces toward America. Many thousand 

286 



The Progress of the Nation 287 

immigrants reached our shores every year. Many of these 
moved on into the West, but the larger number remained in 
the cities on the Atlantic seaboard. 

New York had become a prosperous city of a hundred and 
sixty thousand people, growing at the rate of eight to ten 
thousand people a year. It was almost impossible New York 
to supply houses for the newcomers to live in. ^^*y 
Entire blocks of fine brick buildings were erected on sites 
which five years before were mere marshes, or else covered 
with cheap wooden huts. Over a thousand saihng vessels 
entered the harbor every year, bringing all kinds of foreign 
wares and loading for a return trip with the products of our 
farms, forests, and factories. 

The city had customs very different from those of today. 
Every citizen was required to sweep in front of his house and 
to the middle of the street twice a week. From December to 
April there was no street cleaning. Hogs became the only 
scavengers of the dirty streets, and were allowed to run at 
large, provided they had rings in their noses. 

Philadelphia was the next city in size. Its customs were 
like those of New York. Every householder had to sweep 
in front of his house on Friday or pay a fine. On 

01 1 1 • 1 rr • r r i Philadelphia 

Sundays the streets were chained off m front 01 the 
churches to prevent vehicles from passing and making a 
noise. The night watchman still cried tfie hours, trimmed the 
wicks of the lamps, and kept a sharp lookout for fires and late 
wanderers about the streets. 

New Orleans, Charleston, and Savannah were the principal 
cities in the South. They still had the appearance of large 
villages, though many a fine mansion stood inside southern 
a stately grove upon a prominent street. The "**®^ 
main occupation of the people was supplying the needs of the 



288 American History 

farmers of the neighboring sections, manufacturing upon a 
small scale of much-needed wares, and handling the ships that 
crowded the wharves loading cotton and other products for 
foreign and Northern markets. 

The travel between the towns was still by stagecoach over 
the rough roads, or partly by steamboat and partly by stage. 
New York was two days from Boston, and eleven 
hours from Philadelphia. Philadelphia was fif- 
teen hours from Washington, and five days from Pittsburgh. 
New York was ten days from Charleston. This time was 
considered fast in those days, though now it would be thought 
intolerably slow. 

The stagecoaches were lumbering affairs, generally drawn 
by a single pair of horses, making eighteen or twenty miles 
before a fresh pair was used. Travelers reached their resting 
places about dark or a little later, and after supper in the 
wayside inns, went at once to bed. The}^ were called about 
three o'clock in the morning, and whether it rained or snowed, 
or not, the traveler must rise and make ready for the day's 
journey. A week's traveling such as this was by no means an 
enjoyable experience. 

Some of the turnpikes, however, were splendid roads. 

The road from Albany to Schenectady ran in a straight line, 

bordered with poplars, with good taverns along the way. 

Horses were changed every ten miles, the coaches were clean 

and comfortable, and the drivers blew their horns as they 

rattled merrily along the highways. It was not unusual to 

cover one hundred miles in a day's travel. 

Post offices had grown rapidly. When Wash- 
Post offices . . 11 1 

mgton was maugurated there were not more than 

a hundred post offices in the whole country. Forty years 

later there were nearly eight thousand. Letters were carried 



( 



The Progress of the Nation 289 

by stagecoach or post riders. A single sheet cost from six 
cents to twenty-five cents, according to distance. The larger 
the letter and the longer the distance the more it cost in 
postage. 

There were no postage stamps, but the cost was marked in 
ink across the face of the letter, to be paid by the person 
receiving it. A letter could not be carried faster than a 
hundred miles a day. Often a letter was weeks on the way. 
News traveled slowly. The stagecoach lumbered into a town 
of the South or West bringing newspapers or letters two 
weeks or a month old, telling of events that now we should 
consider long past any interest, but which were then hailed 
with delight by the eager crowd that gathered about the post 
office to hear the news from the far-off cities. 

The use of coal for fuel had been known to the world for 
a long time. 'As far back as 1791 a hunter in the mountains 
of Pennsylvania had found a black rock which 
would burn, and which was afterwards declared 
to be coal. Immense deposits were found, but it was hard 
to induce people to use coal, since wood was so abundant. 
The company that tried to sell it in New York had to fur- 
nish a grate free to every purchaser of a ton of coal. 

The presence of anthracite, or hard coal, in Pennsylvania 
was also known, but it seemed impossible to get it to burn. 
A boatload was sold for use in a furnace in Penn- 

, , . Anthracite 

sylvama, and the workmen tried tor a whole 
night to ignite it, but it was so hard they gave up in disgust. 
Shutting the furnace doors, they went off, but one of the men 
came back soon to get his coat and found the coal red-hot. 
The secret of the draft had been accidentally discovered. 

At once hard coal became valuable for fuel and manufactur- 
ing purposes. The iron industry also sprang into life. Towns 



290 , American History- 

grew up, furnaces and foundries were built, and mines were 
opened. The coal fields of Pennsylvania and elsewhere are 
today more valuable than all the gold mines of California. 

Along with coal came the use of gas for Hghting houses 
and streets. As with everything new, the people looked 
Gas for with distrust upon the new method of hghting. 

lighting 'pjie gas smelled bad, seemed dangerous and un- 

certain, and interfered with the business of candle-makers 
and the oil dealers. 

In Baltimore only three people could be found to use gas in 
1820. It was adopted for street lighting by Boston in 1822 
and by New York in 1823. In 1825 Philadelphia declared 
that gas was a nuisance, that a burglar could tear up the pipes 
and leave a whole city in darkness and danger. It was not 
until 1837 that that city agreed to allow its use. Nowadays 
every town has its gas works and we know it to be a con- 
venient method of illumination. 

What we call the pubhc school was not generally known at 
this time. There were free schools in New England and some of 
the other States, but these were generally intended 
for those who could not pay for the education of 
their children. Consequently, the people objected to sending 
their children to '' pauper schools," as they were called. The 
children of the better class of merchants, farmers, and pro- 
fessional men had their own private schools or were taught 
at home, while hundreds of other children, especially those in 
frontier settlements, had no schools or else very poor ones. 

Those who could afford to pay for the education of their 
High schools children sent them to large academies or colleges, 
and colleges qj- hjgj^ schools. In 1821 Boston estabHshed a free 
pubhc high school. This was followed by New York City in 
1825. These were the first public high schools in America. 



The Progress of the Nation 291 

Colleges and universities were beginning to find their way 
in the general scheme of education. North Carolina, Georgia, 
and South Carolina were among the first Southern States to 
lead the way. In fact there were in 1829 over sixty colleges 
and universities in the United States, but the great public 
school system for the education of all the children of all the 
people was yet to come. 

There was a large increase of newspapers and magazines 
after the Revolution, for the people were eager for news, and 
Newspapers ^he political^ parties needed 
and papers to discuss their doc- 

magazmes trines. The presses were crude 
affairs compared to the great presses of 
today. They were old-fashioned hand 
presses, turning out a few hundred copies 
an hour. The sheets themselves were not 
large, and were filled with the poKtical 
news of the country, a few advertisements, ha^d "^^TiNxro'tess 
and information on . general subjects. 
Nearly every little frontier town had a newspaper of some 
sort, while the large cities were already having daily papers. 

2. INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 

In the early days nearly all the manufacturing was done by 
hand and in the homes of the people. The implements were 
crude and clumsy and their operation was slow. Yarn for 
cloth was made on spinning wheels, and weaving was done 
on hand looms. Nearly every home in pioneer days used 
this rude method of making the coarse woolen cloth, that 
supplied the family needs. 

Even in England the methods of manufacture were simple 
and slow, until the importance of her commerce made ma- 




292 



American History 



chinery necessary to supply the rapidly increasing demand 
for her products. The mind of English inventors was turned 
to devising machines for spinning thread and 
making cloth. James Hargreaves, a weaver in 
England, invented a spinning jenny for making 
thread. Richard Arkwright and Samuel Crompton devised 
other and better machines for the same purpose. Later on 



The 

industrial 

revolution 




A Hand Loom of Early Days 

Edward Cartwright invented a loom to run by power for 
making cloth. At the same time James Watt made an engine 
that would drive all these machines by steam power. Thus 
every apphance necessary for machine-made cloth in quan- 
tity was invented and the era known as the industrial revolu- 
tion in England began. This brings us down to 1785. 

Under these conditions the manufacture of cloth 
in the homes of the people almost ceased, for the 
machines made it faster ar^d' cheaper. Capitalists 
began to invest large amounts of money in buying machines 



The factory 
system 
in England 






The Progress of the Nation 



293 



starting mill towns, and bringing the workers from their homes 
into great factories, where immense quantities of cloth could 
be produced by steam-driven machinery. 

So rapidly did England develop her factory system that in 
a few years she gained a lead in the world's commerce that 
has never been surpassed. Population increased, wealth accu- 
mulated, and new cities such as Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, 
Shefheld, and Birmingham sprang into importance. 

England, however, desired to keep all the advantages of 
her machinery for herself, and stringent laws were passed 
prohibiting the exportation of ma- 
chines, plans, or models of machines. 
Therefore, the Colonies before the 
Revolution, and the States after- 
wards, could not profit by the in- 
ventions of the mother country; 
they were merely expected to supply 
the raw material for the English 
factories to work upon. Under 
these conditions the Americans re- 
sorted to smuggling, and to invent- 
ing their own machinery, until the 
secrets of the manufacture of cotton 
goods became fairly well known in 
this country. 

Samuel Slater, living in England and working as an appren- 
tice in the manufacture of cotton machinery, accidentally 
read in an American paper of the efforts that were samuei 
being made to secure machinery and of the boun- Plater 
ties offered to those who would come to America and bring 
models of the machines with them. Slater resolved to move 
to America, and since the law forbade him carrying any plans 




Samuel Slater 

The Father of American 
Cotton Manufacture " 



294 



American History 



or parts of machines with him, he set about to memorize all 
the details and to carry them in his mind. 

In 1789 he left London for America carrying the precious 
knowledge with him. The next year he constructed some 
machinery for a manufacturing firm, on the English plan, 
doing the work mainly with his own hands, and started a 
small mill at Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The year 1790 
marked the beginning of the factory system in America. 
Samuel Slater has been called '' the father of American 

cotton manufacture." 

The growth of the fac- 
tory system for the manu- 
facture of cotton cloth was 
slow because the supply 
of cotton was small. The 
lint had to be separated 
from the seed by hand, 
and one person could not 
clean more than a pound a 
day. It was easy enough 
to raise cotton, but there 
were not enough hands in all the South to clean even a small 
crop. With the coming of machinery the demand for cotton 
increased, and the need of a machine for cleaning the fiber 
from the seed became very great. This need was supplied in 
1793 by Eli Whitney. 

He was a young man, born in Massachusetts, who had 
moved to Georgia to teach school and study law. He made 
his home with Mrs. Nathanael Greene, who was living at 
that time not far from Savannah. 

Upon one occasion she had a number of distinguished 
guests to dinner, and they were discussing the difficulty of 




Eli Whitney 



The Progress of the Nation 



295 




Whitney's Cotton Gin 



removing the cotton lint from the seed. One of the guests 
remarked that not only fame and fortune would await the 
man who invented 
a machine for this 
purpose, but that 
he would also do 
a great service for 
his country. Mrs. 
Greene said, "Why 
not ask Mr. Whit- 
ney to make a 
machine of this 
sort? He can do 
anything." 

Whitney was 
sent for, some cotton was given him, he never having 
seen any up to that time, and the difhculties explained to 

him. He ^j. Whitney 
at once invents the 

set to ^o"°°gi^ 
work on a machine. 
He had to make his 
own tools, and with 
his own hands had 
to make all the 
parts of the ma- 
chine. When it was 

finished, his friends 

A Modern Cotton Gin , , 

were amazed to see 
how clever it was. The machine could do as much in a few 
minutes as a man could do in a day. 

In ten years after the invention of the cotton gin a hundred 




296 American History- 

thousand bales of cotton were exported to England, besides 
the large quantity used in this country. Every year there 
was an increase in the crop, and money was coming fast into 
the pockets of the cotton planters. It helped the people of 
New England quite as much, for mills for the manufacture of 
cotton cloth rapidly increased in number. 

One of the effects of the invention of the cotton gin and the 
rapid increase of manufactures was to establish the importance 
Increase of of negro slavery, because slaves were admirably 
slavery adapted for work in the cotton fields of the 

South. Up to that time many men, both North and South, 
regretted that slavery had ever started in the United States. 
It was thought to be a great evil as well as a great danger. 
Now that the vast fields of the South were open to the culti- 
vation of cotton by negro slaves, and the New England mills 
needed cotton for manufacture, very little was said for a while 
about the evils of slavery. Slavery had become profitable 
for both sections of the country. 

In 1814 Francis Lowell, of Boston, who had been to Eng- 
land to inspect the cotton manufacturing, set up in Waltham, 
The factory Massachusetts, the first factory in the world in 
system which all the processes in the manufacture of 

in menca cotton goods from the raw material to the fin- 
ished product were carried on in one establishment and under 
one system. The Waltham factory became the model for 
others of like nature, until the factory system was firmly 
established in America. In forty years from the time that 
Samuel Slater began his factory in Pawtucket, the number of 
factories in the United States increased to over eight hundred. 

Other industries were being developed as well. The first 
iron foundry at Pittsburgh was begun in 1803 on the site of 
the present post office and the city hall. In twenty-five 



The Progress of the Nation 297 

years Pittsburgh had eight rolling mills, using fifteen hundred 
tons of pig iron. RolKng mills rapidly increased in the iron 
section of Pennsylvania, and the iron industry increase of 
grew rapidly from year to year. manufactures 

In Maine the people were establishing tanneries and paper 
mills, and raising sheep for the woolen mills. Providence, 
Rhode Island, claimed to be the richest city of its size and 
population in the world, having in its bounds and neighbor- 
hood one hundred and fifty manufacturing estabUshments of 
all sorts. New York State was described as " teeming with 
manufacturing establishments." 

In 1825 the capital employed in manufactures the nation 
over was one hundred and sixty milHon dollars, and the 
number of workers was two millions. The nation was fully 
awake to the great value of developing its resources and 
encouraging its industries. 

The increase of industries and the use of machinery brought 
a great change in the life of the people. Instead of the scant 
livelihood of the early days when men made a bare living by 
farming or by home industries, there was now plenty of occu- 
pation for all. There was a demand for mill operatives, 
machinists, and mechanics. Men found occupation as 
engineers, firemen, and boat hands. They became tailors, 
printers, stage-drivers, iron workers, carpenters, clerks, and 
shoemakers. In fact all the industries were affording occu- 
pation and a means of livelihood. 

The lot of the workingman, however, was hard. He labored 
from sunrise to sunset, frequently twelve to thirteen hours 
a day. In summer he rose at four o'clock, and Condition 
by sunrise every carpenter, mason, shoemaker, °^ ^^^^^ 
indeed every laboring man, was at his task, nor did he cease 
from his labors until the sun was well down in the afternoon. 



298 American History 

At ten o'clock in the morning there was an hour for luncheon 
and at three in the afternoon there was an hour for dinner. 

Wages were very low. An unskilled laborer was paid 
seventy-five cents a day. In winter men often worked for 
forty cents a day. Women shirt-makers doing piece work in 
their homes could hardly make more than a dollar a week. 
All this brought about much poverty and distress. 

This condition caused a movement for improving the lot of 
the laboring classes. The different classes of labor began to 
Labor organize their unions and demand fewer hours of 

organizations labor, higher wages, better treatment, and payment 
in honest money. The laborers would sometimes strike in 
those days as they do now. Sometimes they would gain their 
cause and sometimes they would lose. ' 

As early as 1791, the carpenters of Philadelphia struck for 
a ten-hour day, but they were forced to yield to their 
employers. In 1822 the millwrights and machine workers of 
Philadelphia struck for a ten-hour day, but without success. 
By 1825 the workingmen began to organize in earnest, led by 
the New England women weavers and cotton operatives. 
Those organizations brought about legislation and reform from 
year to year, until at the present day almost all labor is 
organized, and the condition of the laboring classes is steadily 
improving. 

3. IMPROVEMENT IN TRANSPORTATION 

Up to the beginning of the nineteenth centui*y all ships 
were sailing vessels. It took many weeks to cross the ocean, 
the time depending upon the winds, whether they blew for 
or against the voyage, or whether they blew at all. A trip 
to Europe and return was a matter of many weeks, and 
sometimes months. 



The Progress of the Nation 



299 



Those who moved from one part of the country to another 
were obHged to travel in heavy wagons, over bad roads, suf- 
fering the discomfort of poor inns and bad weather, and 
oppressed with the intolerable weariness of slow traveling. 
Occasionally the traveler embarked in a fiatboat which floated 
down the current of a 
river, or else in a keelboat 
which could be poled up- 
stream. The time was 
approaching, however, for 
travel to become more 
rapid and more comfort- 
able. 

Robert Fulton was a 
Pennsylvania boy, of an 
Robert inventive turn 

Fulton of mind. While 

still a lad he designed a 
paddle-wheel rowboat, in 
which the paddles were 
turned by a hand crank. 
He lived in England for 
a while and also in France, 
studying science and en- 
gineering. He proposed a scheme for submarine boats and 
torpedoes to destroy warships by means of high explosives. 
While in France, he had interested Robert Livingston, a 
wealthy American statesman, in the idea of propelhng a boat 
by steam power. The idea was not a new one, but up to this 
time no one had succeeded in making a successful steamboat. 

Fulton made a boat with side wheels and an engine to turn 
them, and in 1803 it was launched upon the Seine River. 




Robert Fulton 



300 



American History 




The " Clermont " Makes Its Trial Trip 



He invited his friends to come and see it work, but the 
night before the time appointed the boat sank to the bottom 
of the river. The machinery was so heavy it had broken the 
boat in two. 

Fulton set to work upon another boat. This time he 
resolved to try his experiments in his native country. He 
spent all his own money, borrowed from his friends, used all 
that Livingston would let him have, and, in 1807, was ready 

for the trial voyage. He 
had built a boat one hun- 
dred and thirty feet long, 
with side paddle-wheels 
turned by an engine. He 
had been laughed at by 
many people, who called 
his boat "Fulton's Folly.'' 
Late in the summer of 1807 a great crowd assembled on the 
docks of the city of New York to see the Clermont — for that 
The was the name of the new steamboat — start on 

Clermont \xs trial trip. On board were thirty or forty of 
Fulton's friends ; among them were some ladies of the 
prominent families of the city. The signal was given, the 
engine started, but the boat did not move. *^ I will fix it in a 
few minutes," said Fulton, when he saw the trouble. In less 
than half an hour the engine started again, the wheels turned, 
and the Clermont moved slowly up the river, amid the cheers 
of the crowd, the waving of flags, and the congratulations of 
Fulton's friends. 

The boat moved at the rate of four miles an hour, and in 
thirty-six hours had reached Albany. Here it stayed but one 
night and came down the river to New York in thirty hours. 
Fulton had at last proved that a boat could be run by steam 



The Progress of the Nation 301 

power. He had succeeded where others before him from 
various reasons had failed. 

It was not long before the Clermont was making reg- 
ular trips between New York and Albany, charging seven 
dollars a trip, and always crowded with passengers. In the 
course of a few years five or six other boats were built, and 
were used for passenger and freight service up and down the 
river and around New York. 

The thought of the people was now upon steam navigation. 
Every year improvements were made, larger vessels and better 
engines constructed. In 181 1 Fulton put a steam- increase of 
boat on the Ohio River, at Pittsburgh. In 1815 steam 
steamboats were making a trip from St. Louis to ^^^^sation 
New Orleans in twenty-five days. By 1823 the time was 
reduced to twelve days. By 1825 the Mississippi River had 
become a highway for steam craft of all kinds. 

In 1819 a steamship built by the direction of a company 
in Savannah, Georgia, and named the Savannah^ made the 
first voyage of a steamship across the ocean. 
The people in the ports of Europe had never seen 
a steamship, and as it came into the harbor with smoke rolHng 
from the funnels, other 
vessels in alarm for what 
they thought was a 
burning ship hastened 
to offer help to put out 
the fire. 

From this beginning 

have come the great ves- The " Savannah." The First Steamship to 
. - , ,- Cross the Atlantic 

sels that ply all oceans, 

carrying thousands of people and tons of freight, crossing 

the seas in all weather, regardless of winds and tides, and 




302 



American History- 



making travel by water a delight and a comfort, instead of 
the once dreary and dreaded experience. 

The steadily increasing manufactures of the Eastern cities 
sought an outlet wherever trade could be found, and the 
The Erie rapidly developing Western towns and frontier 

Canal settlements were eager for an open communication 

with the Atlantic seaboard. To meet these demands the 
Erie Canal was built, being completed in 1825, connecting 
the Hudson River at Albany with Lake Erie at Buffalo. It 
was three hundred and sixty-three miles long, and four feet 
deep. This depth was afterwards increased to seven feet. 



Niagara ll 


/M^ockport 
Buffalo J 


r A 
E 


R 1 

ches 




ter 






§^chenectady^^ 
1 Albany^ 


.-MASS. 




if 



Map of the Erie Canal 



It took eight years to complete its construction. The expense 
was borne by the State of New York. 

When it was finished Governor Clinton went in a canal 
boat, drawn by four gray horses, from Lake Erie to Albany. 
He then went down the Hudson River to New York. The 
canal boat carried a bear, two eagles, tw^o Indian boys, and 
other things typical of the original country. Chnton also 
carried with him a keg of water from Lake Erie which he 
poured into the sea, to show that the waters of the Great 
Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean were united. 

When the canal was opened, a row of cannon, one every 
five miles, from Buffalo to New York, carried the news by 
firing in succession. 



The Progress of the Nation 



303 




Travel by the Erie Canal 



The canal was a cheap highway between the East and the 
West. Freight charges dropped so low that no one thought 
of the overland wagon route. Freight dropped from $100 a 
ton by wagon to $10 a ton by the canal. New York became a 
great center of trade; the wharves at Albany were crowded 
with boats, and 
villages along 
the canal soon 
grew into cities. 

At first toll 
was charged on 
all boats, but 
today the canal 
is free, and may 
be used as a 

means of transportation in exchanging the products of the 
Eastern and Western markets. 

Canals were not possible, however, when mountains stood 
in the way, and railroads were not yet known. To connect 
the Ohio River with the East, a great turnpike or road was 
built by the government from Cumberland on the Potomac 
River to Wheeling on the Ohio. 

It was twenty years in building and cost six million dollars. 
It was eighty feet wide, hard and smooth. It connected with 
the great turnpike from Baltimore and with boats and barges 
on the Potomac, and became a favorite road with travelers 
going West. 

The road was afterwards extended by the States through 
which it passed until it nearly reached the Mississippi. It was 
known as the ''National Road." Travel over it The National 
was immense. Stagecoaches made regular trips, ^°^^ 
and packhorses carried merchandise from town to town. 



304 American History- 

Wagons filled with household goods and farm utensils drew 
slowly along, up and down hill and over the mountains, 
carrying settlers and their families into the fertile valleys of 
the Ohio. In thfs way the nation rolled westward, opening 
new territory and filling the country with a prosperous and 
contented people. 

The greatest of all the improvements, however, were the 
locomotive and the railroad, which had already been invented 
in England by George Stephenson. He had shown the aston- 
ished and somewhat terrified people of that country that a 




An Early Railroad Train in America 

train of wagons or carriages could be drawn on a track by a 
locomotive at a rate of fifteen miles an hour, and that the 
passengers could still live in spite of the speed. 

In 1828 the aged Charles Carroll of Carroll ton, then more 
than ninety years old, and the only surviving signer of the 
^jjg Declaration of Independence, turned the first 

beginning of spadeful of earth for the beginning of the Balti- 
raiiroads more and Ohio Railroad. Striking the spade into 

the ground, he said, ^' I consider this among the most impor- 
tant acts of my life, second only to that of signing the Declara- 
tion of Independence, if second even to that." In 1830 the 
first locomotive started over the road, and on its trial trip had 
an exciting race with a stagecoach. At that time there were 
only thirty-six miles of railroads in the whole country. 



The Progress of the Nation 305 

In 1833 the road between Charleston and Hamburg in 
South CaroHna was completed. It was one hundred ' and 
thirty-six miles long, and at the time was the most important 
railroad in America. In ten years railroads had grown to 
three thousand miles in length, in twenty years to nine thou- 
sand miles, and in i860 to twenty thousand miles. Today 
there are over two hundred and fifty thousand miles of rail- 
roads in the United States. If put in a Hne they would 
reach ten times around the earth. 

The first locomotives were rude affairs, very different from 
the splendid engines of the present day, that dash over steel 
rails at the rate of a mile a minute. The first coaches were 
crude carriages, compared with the Pullman cars of today that 
convey passengers from one part of the country to another 
with every comfort and luxury. 

4. THE MOVEMENT WESTWARD 

The great movement to the West was in full progress. 
The rich valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi were attracting 
thousands of settlers who set out overland on Moving 
horseback and in covered wagons, carrying house- westward 
hold goods and driving herds of cattle. On every road leading 
to the West there were lines of moving wagons, with the 
women and children inside, the men riding their horses, plod- 
ding along over hills and mountains, and across the valleys 
and streams. At Haverhill, Massachusetts, nearly five hun- 
dred emigrants passed through the town in two weeks. 
At Easton, Pennsylvania, over five hundred wagons carrying * 
three thousand persons passed in one month. 

In the same way there was a movement South from Vir- 
ginia and other Middle States to the rich cotton lands of the 
new States of Alabama and Mississippi. Here the settler 



3o6 American History 

would build his home, open up his farm, purchase slaves for 

his fields, and begin the hfe of a cotton planter in the South. 

Mississippi grew from eiffht thousand in 1800 to 

Moving South ^^ ^ ^ , ^ , 1 . « 

over seventy-live thousand people m 1820. 
Along the Ohio River steamboats were plying, carrying 
settlers to the small towns, and supplying them with all kinds 
of household wares. Some steamboats were floating stores. 



(O ( onimcTcial Museum, Philadelphia 
Moving Westward 

When the horn sounded the people rushed to the wharf to buy 
drygoods, tinware, hardware, guns, seed, and everything that 
a general store suppHed. 

The Ohio became a great highway for travel. Broad- 
bottom boats, with pens for cattle, cabins and rooms for the 

family, and household sroods for the settlement, 
The Ohio ,/' . „ .1 n . 

could be seen m endless procession down the river. 

When the settler reached the end of his journey, he sold his 

boat, bought a wagon, and moved on into the wilderness. 

As he traveled he drove his cattle before him, and at night 



The Progress of the Nation 



307 




A Flatboat on the Ohio 



stopped at the wretched inns or camped by the streams on 
the way. 

When he finally reached his future home he cut down a few 
trees, built a cabin, cleared his land, started his crops, and 
another frontier 
home was begun 
in the depths of 
the great West. 
Soon others 
would settle 
near by, and 
when a cluster 
of cabins had 
been formed, 
somebody would buy a section of land, cut it into town 
lots, and probably name it for himself. Thus another town 
was added to the map, and took its place in the develop- 
ment of our country. 

Life on the frontier was very simple at first. The settler 
generally had no glass for his cabin windows, but used greased 
paper instead. The doors of the cabins had Life on the 
leather hinges and were without bolts or locks of frontier 
any kind. The floor was made of split logs laid with the round 
side downward. The furniture was such as the settler made 
himself or had brought in his long journey from the East. 

Household utensils were of the most primitive sort, all 
cooking being done on the open hearth, and all dishes being 
of tinware, or of some other durable material. Corn was the 
universal bread, and pork was the usual meat. The corn was 
shelled by hand, or by being rubbed against a piece of tin 
punched full of holes. Sometimes it was pounded into 
hominy in a homemade mortar, or carried in bags on the back 



3o8 



American History 



of a horse to a mill that was probably a day's journey away, 
to be ground into meal. 

Many an early settler made all the shoes for himself and his 
family from leather that he himself had tanned. The family 
clothing was made from cotton or linen, every fiber of which 
was raised on the little farm, and every yard of which was 
spun on the homemade looms. For hats or caps the pioneer 
depended on the skins of small animals, while the larger game 




Chicago in 1830 — a Frontier Settlement 

of the forest or plain supplied the heavy covering for the beds 
in winter time. 

It did not take long, however, for these hardy pioneers to 
conquer the wilderness, and accumulate many of the com- 
forts of life. Some of the great men of the nation came from 
such homes and struggled up through the hardship and priva- 
tion of frontier hfe. Gradually the settlers' farms became 
larger and more valuable, neighbors came, and the settlement 
grew into a town, and the town into a city. The " old 
settler " became a picturesque character, spending his last 
years in peace and plenty and telling his grandchildren of the 



The Progress of the Nation 



309 



time he moved across the country in a wagon and began his 
home in the wilderness. 

The Mississippi River was also a great highway for traffic 
and travel. By this time steamboats were plying between 
New Orleans and the towns up the river. In addi- ^j^^ 
tion to the steamboats, thousands of barges drift- Mississippi 
ing with the current brought the produce of the ^^^^^ 
valleys to the ports for shipping. They made their way 
slowly down the river, tying up at the wharves by night, 




I Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 
Chicago in 1920 

while the boatmen called on their friends and passed the time 
singing, dancing, and playing cards. When the barge reached 
New Orleans, the cargo was sold and, probably, the barge 
itself was broken up and sold for wood. The boatmen worked 
their way back on the steamboats or rode home through the 
country. 

In 1825 the vast areas of territory west of the Mississippi, 
now so populous and thriving, and divided up into States, 



310 American History 

were known only to the fur trader and explorer. The sites 

of such cities as Denver and Salt Lake City and of many 

other growing cities of the West were still in the 

The Far West . , ... _ « ^, . 

unbroken wilderness. Even up to 1830 Chicago 
was a hamlet of log houses, inhabited by not more than a 
hundred people. 

West of the upper Mississippi was a great unorganized 
territory traversed by the Missouri River ; to the southeast 
and along the lower Pacific Coast lay the possessions of 
Mexico ; in the northwest was the Oregon Country. Far 
scattered forts, a few trading posts, and a settlement here 
and there, were the only holdings of white men among the 
many Indian tribes that roamed over the land. 

Beyond the Mississippi, St. Louis was the chief settlement, 
being the center of the fur trade of the Far West, though at 
this time it was hardly more than a large village. 
Large caravans were sent out by the fur com- 
panies across the plains and over the mountains, through 
passes known only to the Indians and fur traders, in search 
of furs for the markets of the East. The fur trade laid 
the foundation of many large fortunes for the enterprising 
merchants who formed companies and established trading 
posts in the Northwest. 

The passing of the caravans and traders made well-beaten 
paths up the Arkansas and Platte rivers, which paths or roads 
The Santa Fe afterwards came to be known as the Santa Fe 
Trail Trail, and the Oregon Trail. Independence in 

Missouri was the starting point of the Oregon and the Santa 
Fe caravans. Long trains of canvas-covered wagons, loaded 
with goods brought up the Missouri River, started overland, 
attended by armed men on horseback for the long journey to 
Santa Fe. 



The Progress of the Nation 3 i i 

Often the caravans were attacked by Indians, sometimes 
they lost their way, and sometimes they suffered from sand- 
storms. But the bold adventurers held steadily on, until 
they reached their destination, where they traded their 
cotton, silks, china, hardware, and other goods for Mexican 
blankets, silver, furs, and whatever else the Spanish and 
Mexican traders had brought over their trails to sell or 
exchange. 

The Oregon Trail led along the Platte River, over the 
Rocky Mountains, into the fur-bearing country of Oregon and 
the Pacific Coast. It took months for a train of The Oregon 
packhorses to go and return, their journey being "^^^ 
attended often with adventure, and always with hardship. 
The Oregon Country was held jointly by England and the 
United States at this time, but the English were more numer- 
ous and gave the American fur traders a great deal of trouble. 

It was not until 1832 that the first wagon train crossed 
the mountains into the Green River Valley. In 1834 and 
1835 some American Protestant missionaries, among whom 
was Marcus Whitman, were sent out to Oregon to teach 
religion to the Indian tribes. Yet up to 1841 not quite a 
hundred and fifty Americans had settled in Oregon, though 
the trail over the mountains was well known and frequently 
traveled by traders and adventurers. Today Oregon is a 
great and prosperous State of about seven hundred thousand 
people. 

TOPICS 

The Growth of the Country. John Quincy Adams becomes President. 
Growth of population ; the increase in number of States ; the extension 
of territory. The tide of immigration. Size of New York ; commerce ; 
customs. Philadelphia; customs. Southern cities; occupations of 
the people. Travel by stagecoach ; distances between cities. Discom- 



312 American History 

forts of travel. Special tUinpikes, Growth of post offices; postage; 
news in the South and West. Use of coal for fuel. How anthracite 
came to be used. Use of gas for lighting. Free schools; private schools ; 
academies ; public high schools ; colleges. Newspapers and magazines. 

Industrial Development. Early methods of manufacture. Inven- 
tions of Hargreaves, Arkwright, Samuel Crompton, Edward Cartwright, 
and James Watt. The factory system in England. Laws against 
exportation of machinery. Samuel Slater comes to America; be- 
ginnings of the factory system in America. Demand for cotton. How 
Eli Whitney came to invent the cotton gin ; effect of the invention on 
raising cotton ; effect upon slavery, Francis Lowell and the Waltham 
factory. Iron in Pittsburgh. Industries of Maine. Claims of Provi- 
dence. Capital employed in manufactures. Demand for labor; lot 
of workingman; hours of work; wages. Labor unions; strikes; or- 
ganizing labor. 

Improvements in Transportation. Early sailing vessels. Early 
methods of moving, Robert Fulton ; his early life, studies, and schemes ; 
first efforts and failures ; " Fulton's Folly " ; success of the Clermont; 
beginning of steam navigation; the Savannah. The Erie Canal; 
length; depth. Opening the canal; effect on freight rates. The 
National Road ; travel over it. George Stephenson and the locomotive 
in England. Charles Carroll and the beginning of the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railroad. Railroad in South Carolina. Growth of railroads. 
Improvement in coaches. 

The Movement Westward. Moving West; Haverhill; Easton. 
Movement South. Steamboats on the Ohio ; broad-bottom boats and 
the moving pioneers. Settling on the frontier. Life on the frontier; 
the cabin ; furniture ; household utensils ; corn ; clothing. Beginning 
of towns ; the old settler. The Mississippi River ; flatboating on the 
river. The Far West ; unknown regions ; Chicago in 1830. Conditions 
of the Far West. St. Louis and the fur trade ; caravans. The Santa 
Fe Trail; caravans. The Oregon Trail. Missionaries and settlers in 
the Oregon Country. 

SUBJECTS FOR STUDY 

Why do immigrants seek America in such large numbers? What 
reasonable restraints should be placed upon immigration? Compare 



The Progress of the Nation 3 i 3 

the conditions and customs of New York and Philadelphia of today 
with those of 1825. Discuss the advantage and importance of post 
offices and the cheapness of postage of today. What are the advantages 
and possible abuses of the factory system? What Conditions brought 
about the organization of labor? Compare the speed and comfort of 
travel today with the slowness and discomfort of early days. What 
influences induced men to move into the West? What inducements 
brought them South? Discuss the attractions and the hardships of 
life on the frontier. 

COMPOSITION 

Describe the arrival of news in a Western town. 
Describe the daily life of a laboring man in early times. 
Suppose you had been a passenger on the Clermont and write your 
experiences. 

Give the imaginary story of some " old settler." 

MAP QUESTIONS 

Locate the towns in the manufacturing district of England. Locate 
Pawtucket; Waltham; Savannah; Pittsburgh; Providence. Outline 
the first voyage of the Clermont and of the Savannah. Outline the route 
of the Erie Canal; the National Road, Why was St. Louis a good 
starting-place for the Western caravans ? Outline the Santa Fe Trail ; 
the Oregon Trail. 



Chapter X 
SECTION.\L INTERESTS AND DISCORDS 
1. ANDREW JACKSON BECOMES PRESIDENT 

Up to this time all the Presidents had been scholarly men 
from Virginia and Massachusetts. In 1828 a new era in the 
history of the country opened with the election of Andrew 
Jackson, of Tennessee, as President, a sturdy old fighter, and 
a man of the people. 

A new party, known as the Democratic party, was rising 
into importance. It was the successor of the old Republican 
party of the times of Jefferson. The opposing party was 
known as the Whig party. Its great leaders were Henry Clay 
and Daniel Webster. 

In 1828 Jackson was the man whom the Democratic party 
chose as their candidate for the Presidency, and the announce- 
ment of his name was received everywhere with enthusiasm. 
When approached on the subject, he stoutly declared that he 
was too old, and unfit for public life. He consented, however, 
after persuasion, and a long and bitter campaign began in his 
interest. 

Jackson had been put forward as a candidate for President 
in 1824, when John Quincy Adams was elected. During the 
time that Adams was President, Jackson's friends were busy 
planning for his election. Adams did practically nothing to 
secure his own reelection. When the time came Jackson was 
elected by a large majority. 

314 



Sectional Interests and Discords 



315 



The day that Jackson was inaugurated, Washington was 
packed with people. They had come from far and near to 
witness the ceremony, to parade the streets, and to eat cake 




Andrew Jackson 



and drink punch at the White House. The crowd trampled 
over the rich carpets, stood on the plush-covered furniture, 
broke a handsome chandeKer, and cheered lustily for the new 
President. 



3i6 American History 

The people expected to see Jackson reward his friends and 
punish his enemies. They were not disappointed. In a short 
The SpoUs time Jackson had dismissed two thousand men 
System fj-Qj^ pubHc office and given their places and 

salaries to his friends. Before this all the Presidents together 
had not removed more than a hundred men, and Jefferson 
had dismissed the most of these. The plan of rewarding one's 
supporters by giving them office became known as the " Spoils 
System," from a remark made at the time that " to the victors 
belong the spoils." 

Jackson was strongly opposed to the United States Bank. 
This institution had been founded by Alexander Hamilton, 
and had been reestablished in 1816 for twenty years. It 
received the deposit of the public money, and in return was 
expected to procure loans for the government and to provide 
a sound and stable currency for the country. 

Jackson attacked the bank as a monopoly, and said it had 
failed in its purpose. He maintained that the bank was shown 
Opposition to too much f avor and had too much power, which it 
the bank could use for political purposes. He firmly be- 

lieved that the bank had used its power against him in his 
campaign for President. 

The bank applied for a renewal of its charter, which was to 
expire in 1836. A bill was passed by Congress in 1832, grant- 
ing the renewal. Jackson promptly vetoed the bill. He sent 
in a message declaring the bank was unnecessary, expensive, 
and an un-American monopoly. He insisted that it was 
hostile to the interests of the people and possibly dangerous 
to the government. Congress was not able to pass the bill 
over the President's veto. 

Jackson now caused ten milHon dollars of the public money 
to be at once removed from the bank. The charter expired, 



I 



Sectional Interests and Discords 317 

and the bank began business again as a State bank under the 
laws of Pennsylvania. The controversy over the Removal of 
removal of the money deposited in the bank was *^® deposits 
very bitter, and was an issue in the election of Jackson for a 
second term, but he was sustained by the people. 

Let us see what followed. The government money to the 
amount of forty million dollars was now deposited in State 
banks favored by the President. These banks 

,. 1 1 ,, rm r 11 P^t banks 

were Known as pet banks. They found them- 
selves possessed of abundant money which they could lend to 
favored customers. 

Worthless banks came promptly into existence. Quantities 
of paper money were issued. There seemed to be plenty of 
money to borrow, and everybody began to buy and sell with 
reckless extravagance. It was an era of wild speculation. 
People bought land they had never seen. Any kind of scheme 
was popular. Prices were high and trading was furious. 

All at once the government became uneasy about its gold 
and silver deposited in the State banks. It called in its 
deposits, and refused to take paper money in payment for 
wild lands. Then followed an excited scramble for gold and 
silver. Money became scarce, people became suspicious, and 
prices fell rapidly. 

A terrible panic swept over the country. Banks and busi- 
ness houses failed by the hundreds. In two months business 
houses of New York and New Orleans failed for one hundred 
and fifty milKon dollars. Mills shut down, foundries stopped, 
workmen were out of employment, and general panic and 
distress prevailed. 

This is known as the panic of 1837. It did not occur until 
Martin Van Buren of New York had become President, but 
it was the result of the financial policy started by Jackson. 



3i8 



American History 



Panic of 1837 



It took many years for the country to recover. At last the 
government money was denied to the State banks, and sub- 
treasuries were established in different parts of 
the country. Business gradually recovered, and 
the industries resumed their normal condition. 

Jackson was called on to settle the Indian question in 
Florida and Georgia. The Seminoles in Florida had agreed 
to move West, but Osceola, one of their chiefs, 
rejected the treaty and refused to move. The mili- 
tary officers sent for Osceola to show him the treaty, but when 
he came into the room where they were he drew his knife 



Osceola 




Osceola Defies the Government 



and drove it through the paper and into the top of the table. 
He was so defiant that he was put in prison. 

On being released, he and his followers began plundering 
and burning the villages and farms, and escaped pursuit by 
hiding in the swamps. Osceola, who himself had broken 
faith, was captured while under a flag of truce and confined 



Sectional Interests and Discords 



319 



in Fort Moultrie. It took several years to subdue his followers 
and end the war. 

Georgia was insisting that the Indians be removed from the 
northern part of that State. A treaty had been made with the 
government in 1802, that this should be done as soon as 
practicable. The government delayed, Georgia insisted, and 
at last became impatient. 

When John Quincy Adams* was President, he and Governor 
Troup of Georgia had a bitter controversy over the matter. 
Troup threatened to take possession of the Indian The Georgia 
lands anyhow. Adams threatened to send a Indians 
military force to prevent him. Troup started to call on the 
mihtia to resist '^ the invasion," and wrote a bold letter of 
defiance to the President. 

The conflict was fortunately avoided. When Jackson 
became President he agreed with Georgia that the Indians 
should be removed, and refused to listen to any of their com- 
plaints. Plans were agreed upon to send the Indians to an 
Indian territory west of the Mississippi. This was peaceably 
done in 1838, and the Indians were settled in Indian Territory, 
which afterwards was included in the State of Oklahoma. 

2. DISPUTES OVER THE TARIFF 

We have already seen that there are two purposes in a tariff 
on foreign goods. One is to raise money for the expenses of 
the government, and is called a tariff for revenue. The other 
is to increase the price of articles of foreign manufacture, and 
is called a tariff for protection. We are now to see how two 
great sections of the country had a bitter dispute over the 
protective tariff. 

By this time the Northern States were engaged mainly in 
manufacturing. Four -fifths of all the mills and factories of 



320 American History 

the country were north of the Potomac. There were woolen 
mills in Vermont, cotton mills in Massachusetts, iron foundries 
The North ^^ Pennsylvania, besides tanneries, carpet mills, 
desired a pro- glass works, and a hundred other kinds of manu- 
tective tariff f^cturing industries. 

Nearly two hundred million dollars were invested, and two 
million people employed in manufacturing in the Northern 
States. Naturally these States* desired a protective tariff, 
for that meant high prices, and they had much to sell. 

There was but one industry in the South, and that was the 
raising of cotton. These States raised nearly a million bales 
The South ^^ cotton, worth about fifty milHon dollars, one- 
desired a low third of which was sold to the New England mills, 
**"^ and two-thirds were sold abroad. 

The Southern planters bought plows, wagons, woolen cloth, 
shoes, hats, harness, and indeed everything they needed, from 
New England or abroad. Naturally the Southern States 
desired a revenue tariff only, for that meant low prices, and 
they had much to buy. Thus began the old quarrel of the one 
who wanted to sell high and the one who wanted to buy cheap. 

A number of protective tariff acts had been passed from 
time to time by Congress, but the one of 1828 was the cause 
of the greatest irritation and dispute. It met with intense 
opposition in the South, because it laid such high duties on the 
things the people had to buy. Those States declared that 
they would be reduced to poverty. It was taking money 
out of the pockets of the South and putting it into the purses 
of the North. The people of South CaroKna even proposed 
not to obey the law ; that is, to nullify it so far as that State 
was concerned. 

On the other hand, the Northern manufacturers replied 
that without the tariff they could not go on with their work, 



Sectional Interests and Discords 321 




Daniel Webster 

that their mills would have to stop and their workmen be 
dismissed. Thus the two sections stood at complete variance 
on the subject of a protective tariff. 

In 1830 occurred the great debate in the United States 
Senate between Daniel Webster, senator from Massachu- 
setts, and Robert Y. Hayne, senator from South Hayne's 
Carolina. It was a memorable occasion. Hayne argument 
argued wdth great power that Congress had no right under 
the Constitution to pass a tariff act that destroyed one section 



322 



American History 



of the country and built up another; that, if such a course 
was insisted upon, any State thus injured had a right to refuse 
to pay the duties, and might nulhfy the laws of the United 
States so far as that State was concerned ; that the New 
England States were pursuing the poHcy of a protective tariff 
to the detriment of the Southern States. 




Webster's Reply io Hayne 



Daniel Webster replied to Hayne. He argued that one 
State alone could not be the judge of the wisdom, of the general 
laws without bringing ruin to the country ; that no State could 
nullify the operation of the laws in its borders without being 
guilty of disloyalty to the Union ; that the Union was greater 
than any State ; and that the Constitution was " sl govern- 
ment made for the people, made by the people, and answerable 
to the people." 

It had been known that President Jackson was not in favor 
of the protective tariff. The South had supported him in his 



Sectional Interests and Discords 323 

election, and was now anxious to know his position on the 
subject of nulKfication. It did not have long to wait. 

The President was invited to a dinner given to celebrate 
the birthday of Jefferson. Many toasts had been offered 
in which the power of a State to declare the laws Jackson's 
of Congress null and void in its limits had been t^^st 
hinted at. The President was called upon to offer a toast, 
and everybody was eager to know what were his sentiments. 
He slowly rose and offered the toast, " Our Federal Union ; 
it must be preserved." This showed his position and ended 
the hope of the nulhfiers. 

A new Tariff Act was passed by Congress in 1832. It was 
as unsatisfactory to the Southern States as the others had 
been. John C. Calhoun,^ the great statesman of South 
CaroHna, who was then Vice-President, was strongly opposed 
to it. He wrote a letter to the people of South Carolina 
advising them not to submit to the tariff, as it was in his 
opinion unjust and unconstitutional. 

South Carolina followed the advice of her great son. A 
convention met in November, 1832, and passed an ordinance 
declaring the tariff null and void in South Carohna, and 

^ Calhoun was one of the famous men of the time. With Webster and Clay 
he formed "the great trio," who were the giants in the debates over these burn- 
ing questions. .He was the idol of the people of the South, who found in him 
their strong champion of States' Rights, and the defender of all their institutions. 
Webster, who opposed him in the debates, said of him, "Nothing groveling, low, 
or meanly selfish came near his head or his heart." 

Calhoun and Jackson had been friends for many years. Calhoun was in 
the cabinet of President Monroe at the time Jackson made his raid into Florida 
without the authority of the government, and made the remark, "Jackson 
should be court-martialed for that offense." 

Some one, years afterwards, told Jackson, and he became Calhoun's bitter 
enemy. He never forgave him for the remark, and stood ever in the way of 
Calhoun's ambition to become President. 



3^4 



American History 



threatening that that State would leave the Union if any 

attempt was made to enforce the revenue laws. 
Nullification _ . ^ .. . ^^ „.. ^. 

Ihis was an Ordmance of Nullmcation. 

When President Jackson heard of it he acted with his usual 

vigor and promptness. He sent word to the collector at 




John C. Calhoun 



Charleston to collect all duties, even if he had to employ 
force. He ordered General Scott to go to that port and 
see that the laws were obeyed. He threatened to hang the 



Sectional Interests and Discords 325 

first man that shed a drop of blood in opposition to the laws 
of Congress. 

He issued a proclamation to the people of South Carolina 
in which he said, '' The laws of the United States must be 
executed. I have no discretionary powers on the subject 
— my duty is pronounced in the Constitution. Those who 
told you that you might peacefully prevent their execution 
have deceived you. Their object is disunion, and disunion 
by armed force is treason." 

Hayne was made Governor of South Carolina. Calhoun 
resigned the Vice-Presidency and was elected to the Senate. 
Here the angry debate was continued under his The Force 
great leadership, while South Carolina awaited ^^^ 
the outcome. Jackson applied to Congress for power to carry 
out the laws, and a bill known as the Force Bill was passed, 
giving the President power to enforce the revenue laws by 
arms. A conflict with South Carolina was close at hand. 

Henry Clay now entered the debate, with a compromise 
measure. His eloquence had, at other times, brought peace 
to contending parties. He now used all his clay's 
powers of persuasion to avoid the issue that was compromise 
threatening. He saw that the government and South Carolina 
were resolved upon the course each had taken and that neither 
would yield. Therefore, he proposed a gradual reduction of 
the tariff, a little every year, so as not to bear hard upon 
the Northern manufacturer and yet meet the views of the 
Southern States. After a long debate this measure was 
agreed upon. 

South CaroHna accepted the compromise, repealed the 
Ordinance of Nullification, and the war clouds passed away. 
When Clay, who had been, and still was, a candidate for 
President, was told that his compromise measures would 



326 American History 

defeat his ambitions, he made the noble reply, *' I would 
rather be right than be President." 

3. THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS 

At this time the two political parties were the Democrats 
and the Whigs. Andrew Jackson was the leader of the Demo- 
VanBuren, cratic party, and at his suggestion Martin Van 
President Buren, of New York, was nominated in 1836 for 
President, and was easily elected. Jackson retired from 
public life, leaving Van Buren to bear the burden of the great 
panic of 1837. 

In 1836 Arkansas was admitted to the Union as a Slave 
State. The next year Michigan came in as a Free State. 
This made twenty-six States, equally divided between Slave 
States and Free States. 

At the end of Van Buren 's term, the Whigs, in 1840, nomi- 
nated William Henry Harrison to oppose him for reelection. 
"Tippecanoe Harrison was an old soldier of the War of 181 2, 
and Tyler and had won fame at the battle of Tippecanoe. 
*°° He was now living on his farm in Ohio, a plain 

man of the people. John Tyler of Virginia was running on 
the same ticket for Vice-President. The campaign cry of the 
Whigs became '^ Tippecanoe, and Tyler too." 

It was an exciting contest. Van Buren was called an aris- 
tocrat, who lived in a fine house and rode in a carriage. He 
was held responsible for the panic, though he was not really 
so. Harrison was a plain farmer who had been reared in a 
log cabin. His opponents said all he wanted to make him 
happy was a barrel of hard cider. His friends at once adopted 
the log cabin and the cider barrel as emblems in their cam- 
paign. 

Mass meetings were held, speeches were made, and long 



Sectional Interests and Discords 327 

parades formed in which were log cabins on wheels and wagons 
carrying barrels of cider. It was called the " Hard Hard cider 
Cider Campaign." At the end Harrison and Campaign 
Tyler were overwhelmingly elected. It was the first great 
victory of the Whigs. 

One month after he was inaugurated, the old soldier, worn 
out by work and ill from exposure, died of pneumonia. This 
was a great blow to the Whig party. Tyler, the Vice-President, 
who now became President, was more of a Democrat than a 
Whig, and most of his administration was spent in quarrels 
with his party and opposition to their measures. 

The great event of Tyler's administration was the annex- 
ation of Texas to the United States. In order to explain 
how this came about, we must tell the story of how Texas 
became an independent republic. 

Texas was a part of Mexico. Its fertile fields attracted 
thousands' of Americans, who moved in, some bringing slaves, 
and all bringing ideas of liberty and self-govern- 
ment. Mexico became jealous of these settlers, 
who soon outnumbered the Mexicans themselves, and forbade 
Americans coming into Texas. Finally in 1836 Texas revolted, 
threw off the yoke of Mexico, and declared herself a free 
republic. 

A heroic struggle for liberty began. Santa Anna, the 
Mexican President, marched against the Texans. He was 
a merciless soldier. At Goliad he captured a body of Texans, 
marched them out of the fort, and cruelly had them shot to 
death. 

The greatest of all his atrocities was at the Alamo, a fort 
in San Antonio. Here, provided with scant am- The Alamo, 
munition and a few bushels of corn, a small March 6, 1836 
number of Texans w^ere fortified. Santa Anna surrounded 



328 



American History 



the fort with a large army and called on the Texans to sur- 
render. Their answer was a cannon shot from the walls. 
A bombardment began that almost destroyed the fort. 

At the end of a few days the Texans were worn out by 
hunger and fighting. The Mexicans clambered over the 
walls into the fort, the Texans meeting them with clubbed 
guns and hunting knives. The brave defenders were soon 
overcome, and every man was put to death. The Mexicans 




The Alamo, a Fort in San Antonio, Where Santa Anna Murdered the Texans 



spared but six people, — three women, two children, and a 
negro boy. 

The Texans arose as one man to avenge this butchery. 
Sam Houston was made Commander-in-Chief of the army. 
Santa Anna was pursued and overtaken at San Jacinto, 
where a battle was fought. The Texans went into the fight, 
crying, " Remember the Alamo !" Over six hundred Mexicans 
were killed, three hundred were wounded, and the rest fled. 
Of the Texans, eight were killed and twenty- three wounded. 

Santa Anna was captured the day after the battle, and 
forced to sign a treaty agreeing to withdraw his troops, stop 



Sectional Interests and Discords 329 

the war, and use his influence to secure the independence 
of Texas. This practically ended the war, though Mexico 
did not give up her claim to Texas. All this occurred during 
the time that Andrew Jackson was President. 

Texas ^ now organized as a free republic, and applied for 
annexation to the United States. At the time there were 
twenty-six States ; thirteen of them were Slave ^^^^^ ^^_ 
States, and thirteen were Free States. The Free mitted to 
States opposed the admission of Texas, because *^^ ^^^^ 
it extended the number of the Slave States. A controversy 
arose that lasted eight years. At length in 1845 Texas was 
annexed to the United States, and was admitted as one of the 
Slave States of the Union. 

Florida had been admitted as a Slave State early in 1845. 
The admission of Texas made twenty-eight States, of which 
fifteen were Slave States, and thirteen were Free States. 

4. THE OREGON TERRITORY. WAR WITH MEXICO 

James K. Polk, of Tennessee, was elected President in 1844 
on the platform of the annexation of Texas. Two great 
events occupied his administration, each of which resulted 
in adding a vast tract to the territory of the United States. 

The first event was the acquisition of the Territory of Oregon 
by treaty with Great Britain. This Territory, The Oregon 
extending along the Pacific Ocean from the line of Territory 
Mexico, which is now the line of California, up to Alaska, 

1 Texas was then and still is the largest State in the Union. Daniel Webster 
said in jest that it was so big a bird could not fly over it in a week. It is five 
times as large as England, and is larger than all the New England States com- 
bined. From north to south it is longer than from Florida to the Great Lakes ; 
from east to west it is wider than from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi 
River. It was an imperial domain that came to us with but little cost compared 
to its great value, though Mexico did not part with it without war. 



330 



American History 



or the 54° 40' parallel, was occupied jointly by settlers from 
England and the United States. We wanted it all, but 
England would not consent to part with so much territory. 
The popular cry in America for a while was '' Fifty-four- 
forty — or fight." 

In 1846 a treaty was made dividing Oregon between the 
two nations. The United States took the territory up to the 
Division of 49th degree of latitude, a vast tract of over a 
Oregon quarter of a million square miles. England took 

the remainder. This treaty fixed the present boundary lines 
between the British possessions and the United States. Out 

of the Oregon Terri- 
tory the three States 
of Oregon, Washing- 
ton, and Idaho have 
been formed. 

The second event 
was the war with 
]\Iexico. That coun- 
try had never ac- 
knowledged the inde- 
pendence of Texas, 
though no armies 
had been sent against 
the Republic since 
the battle of San Ja- 
cinto. 

A dispute arose 

between Mexico and 

the State of Texas 

claimed to the Rio 

' " to 




, l^'l'l il E X IC 
Brownsville 



The Disputed Boundary of Texas 

regarding the boundary line. Texas 

Grande River. Mexico had never surrendered its claim 



Sectional Interests and Discords 



331 



all the territory of Texas. General Zachary Taylor was sent 
into Texas with a body of troops to support the cause of 
Texas, which had been admitted to the Union. 

The Mexicans protested against this apparent invasion of 
the territory they claimed. A body of Mexicans crossed the 
War with Rio Grande 
Mexico and killed 

some American soldiers. 
President Polk at once 
sent a message to Con- 
gress in which he stated, 
" War exists by the 
act of Mexico herself. 
Mexico has invaded our 
territory and shed 
American blood upon 
American soil." Con- 
gress in 1846 declared 
that war existed " by 
the act of Mexico." 

The war with Mexico 
lasted nearly two years. 
During that 
time Gen- 
eral Taylor held the 
line of the Rio Grande. 
The Mexicans were 
badly defeated by him in every engagement. General Taylor 
then advanced to Buena Vista. Santa Anna, the Mexican 
general, had marched against Taylor with twenty thousand 
men. Taylor had only six thousand, but was well fortified 
in the mountain passes. Santa Anna sent a demand for 



Buena Vista 




Taylor's Troops Defeat the Mexicans at 
Buena Vista 



332 American History 

surrender. " General Taylor never surrenders," was the 
brief reply. 

In the battle which followed, the American artillery did 
great damage to the Mexican troops. General Taylor, who 
was called by his men '' Old Rough and Ready," was seen 
everywhere encouraging his soldiers. Riding up to Captain 
Braxton Bragg, he said, " A little more grape. Captain Bragg, 
and the day is ours." 

The Mexicans were defeated with great loss. This ended 
the operations on the Rio Grande and made General Taylor 
a popular hero. American troops now marched into New 
Mexico and California and quietly took possession of that 
territory, which at the time was part of Mexico. 

General Winfield Scott prepared to end the war in 1847 

by an attack on the City of Mexico itself. He landed at 

Vera Cruz, and started on a long march of two 

hundred miles. At Cerro Gordo he defeated 

Santa Anna, and drove him back. 

Along with General Scott were a number of young officers 
of skill and daring who were afterwards to be heard of in a 
greater and longer war. Such officers as Robert E. Lee, 
Ulysses S. Grant, Thomas J. Jackson, George B. McClellan, 
and indeed nearly all the great leaders in the Civil War, 
were fighting side by side in this march to the City of 
Mexico. 

Scott pressed on, losing many men by sickness. At length, 
with but ten thousand soldiers, he came in sight of the beau- 
Capture of the ^^^^^^ ^^^y ^^ Mexico, defended by thirty thousand 
City of troops under the best leaders that Mexico could 

Mexico furnish. The siege lasted nearly a month, and 

many battles were fought. In September, 1847, the city 
surrendered. General Scott marched in and unfurled the 



Sectional Interests and Discords 333 

American flag over the Mexican capital. During the war the 
Mexicans had not won a single battle. 

The capture of the City of Mexico ended the war. A 
treaty of peace was signed in February, 1848, by which New 
Mexico and California were ceded to the United Treaty of 
States, and the Rio Grande became the south- p®^^® 
ern boundary of Texas. The United States paid Mexico 
$15,000,000 and agreed to settle all her debts due to 
American citizens. This amounted to $3,250,000 more, mak- 
ing in all $18,250,000 paid for over a half-million square 
miles. 

This cession of Mexican territory, together with a strip of 
land south of New Mexico bought by the United States in 
1853 for ten million dollars, which was known as '' The 
Gadsden Purchase," practically established the present 
boundary lines of the United States. 

By treaty, trade, and war we had gained a million and a 
quarter square miles and had extended our territory to the 
Pacific Ocean. 

While the war was in progress it became evident that new 
territory would be added to our domain. The question of 
slavery in this territory was already one of deep interest and 
heated debates. Naturally the Free States were lining up in 
opposition to an extension of slavery, and even the abolition 
of slavery altogether was becoming an issue. 

In 1846 David Wilmot, a Congressman from Pennsylvania, 
introduced a bill in Congress providing that slavery should 
be prohibited in all territory to be acquired from wiimot 
Mexico. This was known as the " Wilmot Proviso 
Proviso." The measure failed to become a law, but it showed 
the issue on which great political parties were to form and 
a great struggle was to occur in the future. 



334 American History 

5. THE NATION IN 1850 

The nation continued to grow steadily. The first census, 
taken in 1790, showed a population of four million people. 
The census of 1850 showed twenty- three million people. 
Foreign immigration continued in ever-increasing numbers.' 
In one year three hundred thousand foreigners came to 
America. 

In 1846, the Irish, compelled by famine and distress, began 
coming to America, settling mainly in the Eastern cities, 
Immigration where they became a factor in the industrial and 
in 1846 and political life of those cities. The Germans, as a 

^ result of a revolution in their own country in 1848, 

came to America in large numbers, many of them moving 
West or Northwest to engage in agricultural pursuits and 
building up communities of their own people. There were 
also EngHsh, Welsh, French, and Swiss, seeking homes in this 
growing and prosperous country. 

It was a notable fact that the foreign immigrants settled 
in the Northwest, and but few of them settled in the South. 
Free labor did not desire to come into competition with slave 
labor, and the slaveholders did not encourage immigration, 
for they feared- it would weaken the institution of slavery. 
The result was that the people of the Southern States were 
mainly native-born Americans and slaves, while the North 
and West contained people from many nations of Europe. 

The cities showed a great increase in population. New 
York now had a half milhon people ; Philadelphia had four 
Growth of hundred thousand. Baltimore, New Orleans, 
the cities Boston, and Cincinnati had each over a hundred 

thousand. The tide of immigration flowing westward was 
building up that section of our country. Chicago had grown 



Sectional Interests and Discords 335 

to over thirty thousand people. Milwaukee was now a pros- 
perous city. St. Paul and Kansas City had made a begin- 
ning, though many of the other cities of the West so well 
known today had not yet been settled, or else were mere groups 
of hamlets too small to appear on the map. 

The large cities showed many improvements in comfort and 
convenience. The principal streets were paved with stone 
or brick and Kghted with gas. Fire engines were used in place 
of the old hand buckets of former days. Horse cars and omni- 
buses came into use. Waterworks and sewerage added to 
the comforts and safety of city life. 

As population increased and wealth accumulated the cities 
gradually took on the appearance they have at the present 
day. Theaters, parks, tall buildings, splendid churches, 
large stores, and other evidences of prosperity showed the 
increasing size and attractiveness of American cities. 

Manufactures and commerce were rapidly increasing. In 
New England and the Middle States manufacturing had 
become a great industry. The West and North- Manufactures 
we&t were mainly agricultural, while in the South and 
cotton-growing was almost the sole occupation of ^^^^^^^^ 
the people. Shipping had rapidly grown to great proportions. 
In 1838 steamships began to ply regularly across the Atlantic, 
carrying the American flag into every part of the world. 
American-built clipper ships were noted for their speed and 
for the skill of their navigators, though they were wooden 
ships and driven entirely by wind. 

The wealth of the South seemed on a firm basis. There 
was apparently an unlimited demand for cotton by the mills 
of New England and Europe. In 1850 the cotton wealth of 
crop amounted to two and a quarter milKon *^® s°"*^ 
bales, valued at one hundred milHon dollars. The value of 



336 American History 

the cotton exports was larger than that of all other exports 
combined. 

On the great plantations of the South owned by compara- 
tively a small part of the total population, thousands of 
slaves labored to produce the staple that was so much needed 
by the mills of the world, and which was not produced any- 
where else in such abundance and of such quality. 

The great public school systems of the country were making 
rapid progress by the middle of the century. The Northern 
Public States were especially active in the improvement 

schools Qf their schools. In 1837 Massachusetts created 

a State board of education with Horace Mann as secretary. 
The old district school teachers did not meet the needs of the 
people. Mann traveled and spoke and wrote and brought 
about many reforms. He was in ofhce for ten years, and when 
he retired there were trained superintendents in every town. 
Normal schools were established, appropriations were in- 
creased, and the old school term was lengthened to six months. 
The school system of Massachusetts became a powerful means 
for the building up of the character and energy of the people. 

In a few years the public school systems of New York, 
Pennsylvania, and New Jersey were established. In the 
Western States public education secured a vigorous position 
by liberal grants of land by the National government, by the 
presence of many immigrants from New England, and by the 
general idea that good schools attract a desirable population. 

In the Southern States the private school still held its influ- 
ence, where the wealthy sent their children to school. The 
Private ^^^^ schools were' patronized largely by the poor 

schools and and ran for a short term. Texas made liberal 
emies j^^^ grants to her school system, and Tennessee 
and Florida received lands for educational purposes from the 



Sectional Interests and Discords 337 

Federal government. It was not until after the Civil War 
however that the Southern States established a satisfactory 
school system. 

The growth of academies was most noticeable. In 1850 
there were over six thousand academies in the United States, 
with over a quarter of a million students. From 1820 to 
i860 there were one hundred and seventy-four colleges and 
universities established, of which nearly one -third were in the 
Southern States. State universities began to take form and 
attract public attention. The University of Virginia opened 
its doors in 1825 and became an influential factor in Southern 
higher education. 

Up to this time but little attention was paid to the higher 
education of women, or their rights to have property, or to 
vote. The public schools were opened to girls, but the acade- 
mies and colleges generally were closed to them. For a long 
time it was not thought necessary or advisable to give women 
equal educational advantages with men. 

However, a change of sentiment occurred and colleges 
began to admit women. In 1833 Oberlin College opened 
its doors to women. In 1840, the Georgia Education of 
Female College graduated its first class of young women 
women. Even up to i860 there were only a few colleges in 
the whole country that admitted women to their classes or 
gave them diplomas. At the present day there are hundreds 
of such institutions and women now have every educational 
advantage. 

The spread of educational influence was followed by other 
reforms. The misuse of spirituous liquors attracted the 
attention of the reformers. Early in the century Temperance 
drinking was very general among all classes, but movement 
temperance societies began to be formed in 1825 and in five 



338 American History- 

years there were more than a thousand in existence. Preachers 
of temperance went into every part of the country forming 
societies. Soon the agitation took the form of proposed pro- 
hibition of the sale and manufacture of hquors. In 185 1 
Maine passed a prohibition law, that State being the first to 
commit itself to State-wide prohibition. 

The improvements in education, and the rapid increase in 
population and wealth, and the movement of the people to the 
Newspapers West caused a large increase in newspapers, books, 
and maga- magazines, and other means for keeping the people 
zines informed. Instead of the old hand press of early 

days by which only a few hundred papers could be printed in 
an hour, the large newspapers began using a rotary press 
driven by steam power, turning out many thousand copies 
an hour. 

Up to this time the cost of postage for carrying letters 
and papers was so high that few people could afford to write 
many letters. In 1850 the rate for letters weigh- 
ing a half ounce or less was five cents for every 
three hundred miles or less ; over three hundred miles ten 
cents, and to the Pacific Coast by way of Panama, forty 
cents. In 1 85 1 the rate was made three cents for any distance 
up to three thousand miles, and six cents for more than that 
distance. This rate continued up to 1883, when a rate of 
two cents on letters was made. Postage stamps and envelopes 
also came into use about the middle of the century. 

6. IMPROVEMENTS AND INVENTIONS 

There was a great increase of inventions and improve- 
ments about this time. The inventive genius of the American 
mind responded promptly to all the demands that the progress 
of the country made upon it.. 



Sectional Interests and Discords 



339 



Among the most useful of these inventions was the harvest- 
ing machine, which was made in 1832 by Cyrus Hall McCor- 
mick, a native of Virginia. Up to that time hay and grain 
were cut with scythes, and raked by hand. Cutting and 
raking one acre of grain a day was a man's work. McCormick 
worked on his harvester for many years before it was a suc- 
cess. When it was completed it could do in a half hour what 
it had taken a whole day to do by hand labor. 




} 'm 



A Modern Harvesting Machine Drawn by a Tractor 

In 185 1 he exhibited his invention at the World's Fair in 
London. The newspapers made great sport of it, saying it 
resembled a combination of a circus chariot, a McCormick's 
wheelbarrow, and a flying machine. When harvesting 
McCormick took his harvester into the fields and ^^^ ^^ 
the people saw it move through the grain, doing the work 
of a dozen men, the newspapers changed their comment, and 
declared it was worth to the farmers of England the cost of 
the whole Fair. 

Along with the harvester came the threshing machine for 



340 American History 

separating the chaff from the kernel. Before that time grain 
had to be beaten out of the hull by flails. The threshing 
machine could thresh in an hour as much grain as a man could 
beat out by flails in a week. 

At the same time there came improved machinery for plow- 
ing and cultivating the soil, and horse-drawn farm imple- 
ments of all kinds, simplifying the labor of the farmer and 
increasing his crops. These inventions did for the West what 
the cotton gin did for the South. They established a great 
industry for the people and made the Western country the 
granary of the world. 

Among the notable inventions of the time, and among the 
greatest of all, was the electric telegraph. It was invented 
Electric by Samuel F. B. Morse, of Massachusetts. Morse 

telegraph ^g^g g^ painter as well as a scientist, and had 
traveled extensively abroad. As he was returning to America, 
he and some friends on the ship were discussing the subject 
of electricity, and how a current gave out a spark over a great 
length of wire. 

It occurred to Morse that the sparks made by the current 
could be utilized to convey messages. On the voyage he 
worked out his scheme of the magnetic electric telegraph, 
and wrote an alphabet of dots and dashes that has ever since 
been known as the " Morse alphabet." 

After many years of experimenting he perfected his inven- 
tion. He then applied to Congress for an appropriation to 
bufld a telegraph hne between Washington and Baltimore. 
The application seemed hopeless for a long time, but at the 
last hours of the session a bill was passed appropriating $30,000. 

With this Morse began to build his line. At first he under- 
took to lay the wires underground in pipes, but he soon changed 
this and placed them on poles, using glass insulators. In 



Sectional Interests and Discords 



341 



1844 about twenty-two miles were completed from Washing- 
ton. The National Whig Convention for nomi- Building the 
nating a candidate for the Presidency was in session telegraph 
in Baltimore. The Convention had nominated ^^^^ 
Henry Clay of Kentucky, and the train started to Washington 
with the news. 

When the train reached the telegraph line the news was 
at once sent into W^ashington over the wires. It was the 
first news ever sent by telegraph, and greatly astonished and 




The First Model The Present-Day Model 

The Sewing Machine 



delighted the people. When the line was entirely completed, 
the first message was a quotation from the Bible : " What 
hath God wrought." The first news over the completed line 
was the message announcing the nomination of James K. Polk 
as candidate of the Democratic party for the Presidency. 

Morse lived to see thousands of miles of electric telegraph 
in operation. Great cables have since been laid under the 
oceans, connecting the continents, so that a message can be 
sent around the world in an incredibly short time. In the 
United States alone there are probably a million miles of tele- 
graph wire. 



342 



American History 



In 1846 Elias Howe, of Massachusetts, patented the first 
practical sewing machine, which revolutionized the dress- 
The sewing making and clothing industries, and lightened 
machine ^^q labors of women throughout the world. Sew- 

ing machines are now made in hundreds of varieties for all 
kinds of industries. There are sewing machines for the finest 
embroidery, for making buttonholes, and sewing on buttons, 
for sewing carpet strips together, for stitching leather, and 

special machines for stitch- 
ing books, umbrellas, and 
brooms. Few inventions 
have brought greater 
relief from bodily fa- 
tigue than the sewing 
machine. 

Charles Goodyear made 
possible the wonderful 
development of the rub- 
ber industry. In 1839, 
after years of effort 
and experiment, in the 
greatest poverty, he dis- 
covered that rubber 
mixed with sulphur and 
heated to the melting point is not subject to the changes of 
weather. 

Before that time an overshoe or a rubber coat would be stiff 
as a board in very cold weather, and become soft and sticky 
on a hot day. His discovery and processes made possible 
all the rubber coats, overshoes, automobile tires, and the 
hundreds of other applications of rubber to our comfort and 
convenience. 




Dr. Crawford W. Long 



Sectional Interests and Discords 343 

Before 1842 no surgical operation could be performed with- 
out pain to the patient. No matter how great the agony 
there was nothing to relieve his suffering. Many Painless 
operations were impossible because they were too surgery 
painful to be endured. In 1842 Dr. Crawford W. Long, of 
Georgia, accidentally discovered that the vapor of sulphuric 
ether deadened all sensations of pain to one who had inhaled 
it. In the same year he performed three operations, his 
patients being under the influence of ether and insensible 
to pain. 

In 1844 Dr. Wells, a dentist of Hartford, Connecticut, 
used laughing gas to extract teeth painlessly. In 1846 Dr. 
Morton, a Boston dentist, brought ether into general notice, 
and two years afterwards the anesthetic value of chloroform 
was discovered by a Scotch physician. Now there are thou- 
sands of operations daily, of the most delicate kind, and the 
patients sleep quietly and painlessly while the physicians are 
at work. 

In. 1837 friction matches came into use, taking the place of 
the steel and flint and other old methods of making fire ; in 
1839 Ericsson designed the screw propeller, greatly other 
increasing the speed of steamships ; in 1846 inventions 
Richard M. Hoe, of New York, invented the rotary printing 
press, which perfected up to the present time can print, cut, 
paste, and fold one hundred thousand papers in an hour. 

About the same time there came inventions for the manu- 
facture of paper, penknives, platform scales, cooking stoves, 
coal stoves, and many other articles for facilitating business 
and increasing the comforts of home. 

In 1839 an enterprising young man of the name of Harn- 
den started the express business between New York and Bos- 
ton. The business was so small at first that he carried all 



344 American History 

the parcels in a small bag or valise. The venture grew to 
large proportions, and express companies were organized with 
the result that in a short while packages Could be sent to all 
parts of the United States. 

Inventions could be protected by patents and most of them 
were. In 1790* Congress provided for patents, giving inventors 
exclusive right to manufacture and sell their inventions for 
a period of fourteen years, now extended to seventeen years, 
with the right of renewal. During the first fifty years nearly 
forty thousand patents were issued. By 1850 the number 
was increasing at the rate of a thousand a year, and in i860 
nearly five thousand patents were issued. 

Thus we see the country growing in area, population, wealth, 
and industry. In spite of sectional differences and discords, 
the great nation was moving rapidly forward to take its place 
as one of the great powers of the world. 

7. OPENING THE NEW TERRITORY 

The territory we had gained from Mexico was already 
well known to Americans. Explorers had searched every 
part of it. Hunters, trappers, and traders had crossed the 
plains, explored the rivers, and found their way over the moun- 
tain passes. 

A long trail for wagon trains had been opened into Oregon 
and New Mexico, along which caravans of wagons wound 
their way, protected from the Indians by bands of brave and 
hardy men. 

By the time we had acquired the Western territory the 

Mormons had settled in what is now Utah. They had come 

from Illinois in a long and tedious journey of 

fifteen hundred miles, and founded a city on Great 

Salt Lake. Water was brought in long ditches from the 



Sectional Interests and Discords 



345 



"% 







mountains to water the fields. Like the Indians, they built 
their houses of adobe. By hard work they made an arid plain 
rich with growing crops, covered with grass, and filled with 
cattle. They changed 
a desert into a bloom- 
ing garden. 

Many bold frontiers- 
men were finding their 
way across the country 
or by water to Cali- 
fornia. The fertile soil 
and the fine chmate of 
the Pacific slope were 
well known in the 
East, and the settler's 
cabin was found in 
many places beyond 
the Rocky IMountains. 

The cabins and set- 
tlements, however, 
were far apart. The 
Indians still had vil- 
lages in the forests, 
and vast herds of buf- 
faloes fed on the rich 
grass of the plains. 

The journey of three thousand miles across the continent 
took many weary weeks, and it called for a stout heart in 
those days to brave its perils and dangers. 

Among those who went to California was Captain Sutter. 
He had come from Missouri in 1838, and built a fort on the 
American River where the city of Sacramento now stands. 




ll ToOIv \ Iv'lO IIl.I. I I LT." l-lOCKY 

Mountains in the Early Days 



346 American History 

He started a sawmill about fifty niiles above his fort. In 
January, 1848, one of the men who were working for him saw 
Discovery of some shining particles in the mud of the mill 
sold race. He picked them up carefully, thinking 

they might be gold. 

Making a package of the pieces of metal, he mounted his 
horse and rode in haste to Sutter's fort. Here he and Cap- 
tain Sutter shut themselves in a room and examined the 
particles carefully. Sure enough, they were gold ! The 
secret could not be kept. The men at the mill found it out, 
then everybody knew it, and the people went wild. 

Then followed a mad rush for the gold fields. Merchants, 
farmers, lawyers, doctors, soldiers, and sailors dropped their 
ordinary affairs and began digging for gold. 
Everybody who could get a spade and a pan 
was searching the streams and the mountain sides, spading 
the earth, washing out dirt in the pans, and staking off 
claims. 

Most extravagant stories were told of men who made 
a hundred dollars a day, of those who found nuggets of great 
value, and of fortunes made in a week. Prices went bound- 
ing. A barrel of flour cost fifty dollars, and a spade cost 
ten. Nobody cared, since wealth seemed to be in easy reach 
of every miner. 

In a short while gold was discovered in other places. The 
news reached the East early in 1849, and a mad rush for 
"The Forty- California began. The "gold fever," as it was 
niners " called, broke out, and thousands of people started 

for the West. Some went by sea around Cape Horn, or 
across the Isthmus of Panama. Many more went by the 
long journey overland. Those who went West at that time 
were called " Forty-niners." 



Sectional Interests and Discords 



347 



Usually the caravans started from St. Louis in the spring 
in order to get good weather, and grass for the teams. Like 
colonies of ants the long wagon trains wound over the roads 
across the continent, enduring the dreary deserts, chmbing 
the mountains, carrying their weary but hopeful freight of 
human souls on the long quest for gold. 

The experience of many was most unhappy. Hundreds 
died of sickness and starvation on the way. The long trail 




^-^ 



To Cross the Plains to California Was a Weary Journey of Three 
Thousand Miles Beset ^VITH Many Dangers 

across the plains was marked by skeletons of horses and 
oxen that had perished, by abandoned wagons, and by boxes 
and household goods that had been thrown away. 

A steady stream poured into California. San Francisco 
sprang into a town of twenty thousand people. In one year 
a hundred thousand people moved into California, coming 
from all sections of the country, North as well as South, 
and from nearly all parts of the world. 

Rich as were the gold fields, there were other treasures 
in Cahfornia. Its orange groves, vineyards, fine fields for 



34^ American History 

cattle, and rich valleys for grain soon made occupation 
for its crowding population. Life at first was rude in the 
CaUfornia camps of the miners, and every man was his 
appUes for own protector. Out of the disorder, however, a 
adnussion State was organized in 1849, and a constitution 
was adopted that forbade the holding of slaves. Cahfornia 
then applied for admission to the Union. 

In the meantime Iowa had been admitted to the Union 
in 1846 and Wisconsin in 1848, both as Free States. This 
made the number of states thirty, evenly divided between 
Free States and Slave States. 

8. THE QUESTION OF SLAVERY 

General Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana, became President in 
1849. He was in ofiice a little over a year when he died of 
fever and was succeeded by the Vice-President, Millard Fill- 
more, of New York. 

The times were filled with discussions of slavery, especially 
as it concerned Cahfornia and other States and Territories 
to be made out of the land acquired from Mexico. 

From now on, the question of slavery occupied the public 
mind. Slaveholding had been gradually abolished in the 
North, and by this time was confined to the Southern States. 
Cotton raising, tobacco planting, and sugar making were so 
suitable for slave labor, that the South felt bound to slavery 
on account of its industries. 

Not everybody in the South was a slave owner, probably 

not more than one-third of the people. Some had a few 

slaves only, but on the lar^e plantations there 

The slaves o t- 

were often hundreds belonging to one master. 
The slaves had originally come from Africa, where they were 
savages. They were kidnapped, or bought from the savage 



Sectional Interests and Discords 



349 



chiefs, and brought in slave ships to America to be sold to the 
slave dealers. Since 1808 there had come no more slave ships, 
except as smugglers, so that by 1850 most of the slaves had 
been born in the South. 

The condition of the slaves generally was not a hard one. 
They were well cared for, with good cabins to live in and 
plenty to eat. All day they worked in the fields, and at 



^M 


■ 


l^s^PIH^Rp ' '4v ^^^^^^^^^1 


^^^^H 


BB^^\.r 


■ ■' :-,a»S;* ' ' 


^^H|^P 




_- -■■ff'^'^^ 


P^^^p*^'' 


■•■'" , te:iiiKB*i£» 


**- ■ *- ■ . .i!.i^>:, . ' [^J'V^ 


"^T- ■>;^-ir,.^. 


% % 




: »^sfl; 1 


W^ 1 1 





An Old Slave Market, in Louisville, Ueoroia, oncl iul 
Slaves Were Bought and Sold by Auction 



night sang their songs around the fires in the negro quarters. 
For generations they had known no other condition, and 
most of them were content to remain as they had been born. 
A real affection existed between the master and his slave. 
They had often played together as boys, hunted and fished 
together, and grown up side by side. Sometimes slave fami- 
hes were never sold, but lived on the same farm for gener- 
ations. Never before in history did so tender a feeling exist 
between slaves and those who held them in bondage. 



3 50 American History 

A slave, however, was property. He could be bought 
or sold like any commodity. An able-bodied slave was 
A slave was worth a thousand dollars or more. A runaway 
property slave could be caught and brought back to his 

master. He could not leave his master's place without per- 
mission, nor marry without his master's consent. 

Of course, there were cruel masters, as there are cruel 
fathers, but these were exceptions. When the slaves did 
Occasional fall into their hands they were hard driven, 
cruelty severely punished, poorly cared for, and families 

were separated by being sold apart. However, it was for 
the planter's interest to treat his slaves well. The State 
laws forbade cruelty, and public opinion was against the 
man who treated his slaves badly. 

The negro, however, was a human being ; and there were 
many people in the South, and many more in the North, who 
thought slavery was a calamity and a great moral wrong. 
There was a determined opinion in the North that it should 
not be allowed to spread beyond the States in which it already 
existed. Some bold advocates declared it should cease every- 
where. 

In 183 1 Wilham Lloyd Garrison started an abohtion paper 
in Boston, called The Liberator. He was violent in his denun- 
wiiiiam ciation of slavery and said that if the Constitution 

Lloyd upheld slavery it was *' a covenant with death, 

amson ^^^ ^^ agreement with hell." Even in Boston 

he was denounced as a fanatic and came very near being 
mobbed on the streets. 

Abolition Abolition societies were formed throughout the 

sentiment North. Their purpose was to bring about in 
various ways the emancipation of the slaves. Antislavery 
meetings were held in the Northern States. Speeches were 



Sectional Interests and Discords 



351 



made that drew the darkest pictures of the evils of slav- 
ery. A flood of literature on the subject was sent broadcast 
over the land. In many places the meetings were broken 
up by the authorities, but the sentiment against slavery grew 
steadily, and the abolitionists increased in number. 

Thus matters stood when California was opened in 1849. 
To that country rushed people from the South with slavery 
ideas, and people from the North with antislavery ideas. 

The Free States and the Slave States had long been jeal- 
ous of one another. For many years it had been the prac- 
tice to admit one or two Free States and then one or two 
Slave States to the Union, thus keeping the number equal. 
There were, in 1850, fifteen States of each kind. If CaHfornia 
were admitted without slavery it would give the Free States 
the majority, without any immediate prospect of a Slave State 
to balance it. 

The South lined up in opposition to the admission of Cal- 
ifornia. A part of it was above and a part of it below the 
line of 36° 30' agreed upon in the Missouri Compromise. 
President Taylor, though a slaveholder, favored its admis- 
sion. The Northern States generally approved it. The 
Southern statesmen almost unanimously opposed it. 

There were other irritating issues. There was the ques- 
tion of the slave trade in the District of Columbia. Members 

of Congress declared that from their seats they 

Slave trade 

could hear the cries of the slave markets and 

the voice of the auctioneers offering negroes for sale. The 

North demanded that this should cease. 

Then there was the further question of the return of fugitive 
slaves who had escaped from a Slave State into Fugitive 
a Free State. The South complained that the Slave law 
Northern people not only did not obey the laws and return 



352 American History 

the fugitive slaves, but actually helped them to escape, and 
hid them from their masters. 

Thus there were complaints on both sides, and grievances 
to be cured. The debates in Congress were long and stormy. 
Henry Clay, now seventy-two years of age, had returned to 
the Senate after seven years of absence. He had lost none 
of his eloquence. He now exerted all his powers to prevent 
a breaking up of the Union by proposing a compromise. It 
was his last act as a peacemaker. 

He proposed that California should be admitted as a Free 
State ; that the slave trade should be abolished in the Dis- 
Compromise trict of Columbia ; that more stringent laws 
of 1850 should be passed for the return of fugitive slaves ; 

and that the question of slavery in all the rest of the new terri- 
tory should be left for the people themselves to settle. This 
proposition was known as the " Compromise of 1850." The 
bill was called the Omnibus Bill on account of the many pro- 
visions it contained. 

A debate of many months followed. Clay spoke for two 
days in earnest pleading for the conlpromise. Calhoun, too 
ill to speak, left his sick bed and had his speech opposing it 
read to the Senate. He died a few weeks later, saying, " The 
South ! The South ! God knows what will become of her ! " 

Daniel Webster joined Clay in urging the compromise. 
He feared that the quarrels were endangering the Union. 
It was in the same debate that Wilham H. Seward, of New 
York, spoke of a '' higher law than the Constitution," mean- 
ing a moral law that ought to liberate the slaves. 

The compromise was at last agreed upon, and laws were 
passed to make it effective. Everybody accepted it as final, 
but we shall see that peace was of short duration. 

The new Fugitive Slave law was not easily enforced. Some 



Sectional Interests and Discords 353 

Northern States passed " personal liberty laws " to protect 
the slaves and prevent their return to their masters. When 
a slave owner attempted to get back his fugi- Personal 
tive slaves there was often a riot. Rescues oc- liberty laws 
curred in many places. The people would not return the 
fugitives. 

Many persons in the North banded together to pass slaves 
on from one house to another, hiding them by day and help- 
ing them by night until they were landed in underground 
Canada. This came to be known as the '' under- railway 
ground railway." In this way hundreds and possibly thou- 
sands of slaves escaped from their masters and were aided 
to get beyond reach. 

To make matters worse, in 1852 Mrs. Harriet Beecher 
Stowe wrote " Uncle Tom's Cabin." It was a thrilling and 
pathetic story of what might happen' to all slaves, « jj^^^^ 
and what did happen to some of them. A half Tom's 
million copies were sold. It was translated into ^^^^° " 
many foreign languages, and all the world was reading of 
slavery. 

The South declared that the story was a decided exaggera- 
tion of the facts and that it did the people a great injustice. 
At any rate, the book was a powerful means of arousing the 
North against slavery. It can readily be seen that all these 
things were making the two sections of our country most 
unfriendly to each other. 

9. THE WAR CLOUDS GATHER 

Clay and Webster died in 1852, within a few months of 
each other. Calhoun had died two years before. The death 
of these three famous statesmen, who had been the leaders in 
the debates over mighty issues for forty years, and each of 



354 American History 

whom had hoped in vain to be President, left the arena for 
other combatants. 

The Whig party lost much of its power after the death 
of its two leaders, Clay and Webster. Other parties came 
New political into existence. The Free Soil party arose, op- 
parties posed to the existence of slavery in the Territories. 
The American party was formed on the platform of " None 
but Americans must rule America." This party was at first 
a secret order, whose members replied to all questions about 
the party by saying, '' I do not know." Hence they were 
called '' Know-No things." 

The leading party was the Democratic party. The country 
placed great confidence in its pledges for peace on the basis 
of the Compromise of 1850. Frankhn Pierce, of New Hamp- 
shire, the Democratic candidate, was overwhelmingly elected 
President in 1852. * 

We have already seen that the Compromise of 1850 left the 
people of the Territories of New Mexico and Utah to decide 
Squatter the question of slavery for themselves. This 

Sovereignty p^g^j^ Qf leaving it to the people was called 
" Squatter Sovereignty," on the idea that those who settled 
a country had a sovereign right to decide certain matters for 
themselves. The leading advocate of this plan was Senator 
Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois. 

It will also be remembered that the Missouri Compromise 
forbade slavery above the line 36° 30'. This line ran through 
Kansas- ^^^ new Territory. Since the people in New 

Nebraska Mexico and Utah were to decide the question of 
slavery for themselves. Senator Douglas pro- 
posed that all the people of the new Territory in the West 
should have the same privilege. Hence he introduced a bill 
organizing the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, known as 



Sectional Interests and Discords 355 

the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, leaving the people of the Terri- 
tories to settle the question of slavery. It can be seen at 
once that this bill repealed the Missouri Compromise, since 
both these Territories were above the line agreed upon. 

After a stormy debate the bill was passed and became a 
law. The people of the North protested against it, public 
meetings denounced it, and Douglas was hooted at on the 
streets and burned in effigy in many places.^ 

In 1854 a mad race for Kansas began. Nebraska was 
too far north for slaves to be used with advantage, but Kansas 
was not. It was a struggle between the Slave Race for 
States and the Free States for political control. Kansas 
Crowds of emigrants moved from the Slave State of Missouri 
and began settlements. Emigrant aid societies were organized 
in Boston and other places in the North to send Free-State 
voters to Nebraska and Kansas. 

The struggle for possession of these Territories became of 
national importance. The slave owners of the South moved 
in as fast as they could, money was raised in the North, 
societies were organized, and every week saw bands of armed 
emigrants starting for the disputed ground to contest with 
the Slave States for its control. 

Many of these emigrants were lawless men. Nearly all 
went armed and were ready for a desperate conflict. A 
conflict between the two factions was unavoid- 
able. There were fighting and bloodshed in many 
places. The state of affairs is known as the " Kansas War.'' 

Each party proceeded to organize the Territory. There 
were two legislatures chosen by the rival parties. In four 
years Kansas had five governors, none of whom seemed able 

1 Douglas is reported to have said, "I could have traveled all the way from 
Boston to Chicago by the light of my own burning efi&gies." 



356 American History 

to control the people. One after another they gave up in 
despair of success. The Territory was called " Bleeding 
Kansas." 

This state of war and strife continued for five or six years, 
until finally the Free-State party was declared victorious. 
Kansas and Nebraska were both admitted to the Union as 
Free States. 

These bitter struggles in the Territories and the attention 
they attracted everywhere increased the bad feeling between 
the Free States of the North and the Slave States of the 
South. The two sections of the country were drifting rapidly 
apart, and there seemed no hope of setthng their differences. 
" In 1856 James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, was elected 
President by the Democratic party. He was the last Presi- 
dent to be elected by this party for twenty-five years. All 
other factions in the North had by this time united to com- 
pose the Republican party. 

A few days after Buchanan had taken his seat the Supreme 
Court handed down its decision in the Dred Scott case. 

Dred Scott was a negro slave. He had been taken by his 
master from the Slave State of Missouri to the Free State of 
Dred Scott Illinois. Here he had lived for two years. He 
case ^2^5 ^]^gj^ carried to Minnesota, in which Ter- 

ritory Congress declared there should be no slaves. Scott 
was then taken back to Missouri, but claimed he was a free 
man because he had lived for some time on Free soil. 

His case went to the Supreme Court and was argued by 
great lawyers with much learning. The Court decided that 
Scott, being a slave, was not an Ampican citizen, and that 
he could not sue for his liberty. 

It also gave an opinion that a slave owner could carry his 
slaves into any Territory in the same manner as he could any 



Sectional Interests and Discords 357 

other property, and that the slave could not be made free 
by going into a Free State or Territory. The Court also 
gave as its opinion that Congress had no right to Dred Scott 
prohibit slavery in the Territories. decision 

This opinion was received by the North with great dismay. 
It was feared that not only the Territories, but even the Free 
States were open to an invasion hy slave owners, and that 
there was no recourse in the law to prevent it. 

The majority of the statesmen in the North did not believe 
that slavery could be legally abolished in the States where it 
already existed, but they did maintain that it could be legally 
confined to those States. The Dred Scott decision shattered 
their hopes and was a great source of irritation. 

The people of the South, on their part, were startled by an 
attempt in October, 1859, to arouse the slaves of Virginia 
to insurrection. Among the most fanatical of 
all abolitionists was John Brown. He had gone 
to Kansas during the struggles there, and boldly declared 
that he was divinely inspired to free the slaves by any means 
whatsoever. He believed the way to free the slaves was 
to kill the slaveholders. During the struggles in Kansas he 
and his sons had actually killed in cold blood five or six advo- 
cates of slavery. 

After he left Kansas he gathered a band of about twenty 
followers, went to Harper's Ferry in Virginia, and seized the 
arsenal. He stopped the railroad trains, cap- john Brown's 
tured several citizens, and called on the negroes to ^^^ 
rise and arm themselves. To his surprise there was no re- 
sponse. On the other hand, the citizens gathered in great 
numbers, drove Brown and his party into the engine room of 
the armory, and held them at bay. Some of his followers 
tried to escape, but were killed or captured. ' . • 



358 American History 

In a short while Colonel Robert E. Lee arrived from 
Washington with a body of soldiers. Brown was over- 
powered, his two sons were killed, and his followers taken 
prisoners. In a short while Brown and his men were tried 
by the laws of Virginia, and were hanged for inciting an 
insurrection. This attempt was known as the " John Brown 
Raid." 

The most serious aspect of John Brown's raid was the way 
it was considered by the people. At a few places in the 
North, on the day of his execution, religious services were 
held, bells were tolled, flags were lowered, and manifestations 
of public sorrow were made. He was declared a martyr 
who was persecuted for the cause of truth and right. 

In the South there was quite a different feehng. He was 
denounced as an assassin who tried to arouse slaves to murder 
helpless women and children, and who richly deserved hanging 
for his atrocious crimes. 

During this state of affairs, in i860 the presidential election 
approached. The Republican party nominated Abraham 
Lincoln, of Illinois, for President. The Democratic party 
divided into two sections, one section nominating Stephen 
A. Douglas, of Illinois, and the other section nominating John 
C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky. 

The election was along purely sectional lines. Lincoln 
carried every Free State but one, New Jersey, and was elected. 
Election of The South had divided its vote among other 
Lincoln candidates. At last the party opposed to slavery 

had come into power, and it remained to be seen what the 
South would do under the circumstances. 



Sectional Interests and Discords 359 

TOPICS 

Andrew Jackson Becomes President. Political parties at the time. 
Jackson's candidacy and election; his inauguration. Jackson rewards 
his friends ; the " Spoils System." The United States Bank ; Jackson's 
attack on the bank. Jackson vetoes bill for renewal of its charter. Re- 
moval of the deposits ; pet banks. Era of speculation. Panic of 1837. 
The Seminoles in Florida; Osceola. Georgia and the removal of the 
Indians. 

Disputes over the Tariff. Tariff for revenue ; tariff for protection. 
Why the North desired a protective tariff ; why the South desired a low 
tariff. The tariff of 1828 ; opposition in the South ; reply of the North- 
ern manufacturers. Hayne's argument ; Webster's reply. Jackson's 
toast. Tariff of 1832; Calhoun's advice. Decision of South Carolina. 
Action of Jackson. His proclamation. The Force Bill. Clay's Com- 
promise. 

Annexation of Texas. Van Buren becomes President. Arkansas 
and Michigan admitted to the Union. Tippecanoe, and Tyler too. 
Hard cider campaign. Death of Harrison. Why Texas revolted from 
the rule of Mexico. Santa Anna at Goliad. Massacre at the Alamo. 
Battle of San Jacinto. Capture of Santa Anna. Texas admitted to 
the Union. 

The Oregon Territory. War with Mexico. The Oregon Territory; 
"Fifty-four-forty — or fight." Division of Oregon; States formed 
out of Oregon Territory. Disputes between Texas and Mexico. War 
with Mexico declared. General Taylor and the battle of Buena Vista. 
Winfield Scott marches on Mexico. Officers with Scott. Siege and 
surrender of the City of Mexico. Treaty of peace and its provisions. 
The Gadsden Purchase. The Wilmot Proviso. 

The Nation in 1850. Population. Foreign immigration ; the Irish; 
the Germans. Why the immigrants avoided the South. Population 
of cities. Beginning of cities in the West. Improvements in the large 
cities. Industry of the sections; shipping. The cotton crop of the 
South. Public school progress. Horace Mann ; his labors and his 
success. Establishment of public schools. Education in the South. 
Growth of academies, colleges, and universities. State universities. 
Higher education of women. Women's colleges. Temperance societies. 
Newspapers, books, and magazines. Postage rates. 



k 



360 American History- 

improve men ts and Inventions. The harvesting machine; sport 
made of the original design. The threshing machine; other improve- 
ments ; effect upon the West. The electric telegraph ; how the in- 
vention came about. Appropriation by Congress ; building the lines ; 
the first message; the first news. The sewing machine; its varieties 
and benefits. Charles Goodyear and the rubber industry. Painless 
surgery; Long, Wells, Morton. Matches; screw propeller; rotary 
printing press ; other inventions. Beginnings of the express. Patents. 
Opening the Territory. The territory gained from Mexico ; caravan 
trails. The Mormons in Utah ; their industry and prosperity. Fron- 
tiersmen on the Pacific slope ; the journey across the continent. Sutter's 
sawmill ; how gold was discovered. The rush to the gold fields ; high 
prices; breaking out of the " gold fever "; " Forty-niners." Moving 
West to the gold fields. Growth of Cahfornia; other treasures in 
California. California applies for admission to the Union. Iowa and 
Wisconsin admitted. 

The Question of Slavery. Taylor and Fillmore. Discussion of 
slavery. Slavery confined to the South. Slaveholders; history of 
slave trade. Condition of the slaves; their work; their recreations; 
relation of master and slave. Slave property; occasional cruelty. 
Growth of antislavery sentiment. Contest over the admission of 
California. Slave trade in the District of Columbia. Fugitive Slave 
law. Clay's compromise. Webster and Calhoun. Personal Liberty 
laws. Underground railway. " Uncle Tom's Cabin." 

The War Clouds Gather. Death of Clay, Webster, and Calhoun. 
New political parties. Franklin Pierce, President. Squatter sovereignty. 
Kansas-Nebraska Bill; the race for Kansas; the struggle for control; 
" Kansas War." Political feuds. Admission of Kansas and Nebraska 
as Free States. James Buchanan, President. The Dred Scott decision ; 
effect of the decision on the North. The John Brown raid; fate of 
Brown. Effect upon the North and the South. Lincoln elected Presi- 
dent. 

SUBJECTS FOR STUDY 

What are the arguments for and against the spoils system of rewarding 
political friends ? What are the arguments for and against a protective 
tariff? Discuss the value of labor-saving inventions, and the use of 
improved machinery. What traits of character made for success among 



Sectional Interests and Discords 361 

the "Forty-niners"? What effect did slavery have upon the white 
population of the South ? 

COMPOSITION 

Write the supposed story of an eyewitness to the massacre at the 
Alamo. 

Suppose you were an immigrant in 1850 coming to America, and 
write your impressions and feelings. 

Tell the story of a " Forty-niner," his journey and his success. 

Write the supposed story of a runaway slave. 

MAP STUDIES 

Locate the disputed area between Texas and Mexico. Define the 
Oregon Territory. Locate the Gadsden Purchase. Define the route 
of travel of the gold seekers in 1849. 

Collateral Reading. Hayne's speech and Webster's reply to Hayne 
on " The Foote Resolutions." " The Defense of the Alamo," by 
Joaquin Miller. 



Chapter XI 



ClURLeSVON 

H&RCURT 



EXTRA: 



THE CIVIL WAR 

1. THE SOUTHERN STATES SECEDE 

As soon as it was known that Lincoln had been elected 
President, a convention of delegates from all parts of South 

Carolina met in Charleston, and 
on December 20, i860, passed 
an '* Ordinance of Secession," 
formally dissolving the union 
between that State and the 
United States of America. 

Within six weeks Mississippi, 
Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Lou- 
isiana, and Texas organization 

had followed South of the Conf ed- 
Carolina. When the ^^^^^ states 
war began these States were 
joined by Virginia, North Caro- 
hna, Tennessee, and Arkansas. 
February 4, 1861, the first seven 
States that had withdrawn from the Union sent delegates 
to a convention in Montgomery, Alabama, and organized a 
government which they named '' The Confederate States of 
America." They adopted a constitution and elected Jefferson 
Davis, of Mississippi, President and Alexander H. Stephens, 
of Georgia, Vice-President. In May of the same year the 

363 




lU Rutj-OM 4>; of Kir, ta Ito 

ilMy to Aca 1^ puk ^ Kit «r iki OmmI- 
> rf Ite nU CaMUOtk 



News of So. Carolina's Secession 



The Civil War 



363 



capital of the Confederacy was moved from Montgomery, 
its first location, to Richmond, Virginia. 

The States, as they seceded, took possession of all govern- 
ment property in their territory, such as post ofhces, pubKc 




Jefferson Davis 



buildings, forts, and arsenals. The}^ did this on the ground 
that such public property had been built and paid for out 
of a common treasury, and the South was entitled to its 
share. They agreed, however, to settle with the United 



364 American History 

States government on a fair basis, to be afterwards agreed 
upon. 

Let us see the reason the South gave for leaving the Union. 
All the States had entered the Union of their own free will. 
Reason for Each one had adopted the Constitution as an 
secession agreement to be lived up to and respected by all. 
In adopting the Constitution, Virginia, New York, and 
Rhode Island had expressly stated that they would with- 
draw whenever they found cause to do so. It was generally 
understood that if the Constitution were . violated by any 
State, then the agreement did not hold the others and they 
had a right to withdraw from the Union. ^ 

This right had been asserted by other than the Southern 
States. During the War of 181 2 the New England States 
made threats of secession. In 1844 the legislature of Mas- 
sachusetts had resolved that the project of annexing Texas 
may " drive these States into a dissolution of the Union." 
The doctrine of secession was neither new nor strange. 
What the '^^^ South contended that the North was dis- 

South tinctly hostile to slavery, which was a right pro- 

contended ^^^^^^ ^y ^^^ Constitution. The North had re- 
sisted the Fugitive Slave law, since many States had passed 



^ The following are opinions of some Northern statesmen on the right of the 
Southern States to secede : 

"If the Northern States refuse willfully and deliberately to carry into effect 
that part of the Constitution which respects the restoration of fugitive slaves, 
and Congress provides no remedy, the South would no longer be bound to 
observe the compact. A bargain cannot be broken on one side and still bind 
the other side." — Daniel Webster. 

"If the Cotton States shall decide that they can do better out of the Union, 
we insist on letting them go in peace. The right to secede may be a revolu- 
tionary one, but it exists nevertheless." — Horace Greeley. 

"If a State should withdraw and resume her powers, I know of no remedy 
to prevent it." — Chief Justice Chase. 



The Civil War 365 

personal liberty bills protecting all escaped slaves. The North 
had resisted the Dred Scott decision, had objected to slavery 
in the Territories, and in many cases had approved the raid 
of John Brown. 

In addition to all this the triumph of the Republican party 
and the election of Lincoln was a triumph of antislavery 
feeHng. It was the setting of sentiment against the South, 
especially as Lincoln had said, '' I believe this government 
cannot endure half slave and half free. I do not expect the 
house to fall, but I expect it will cease to be divided. It will 
become all one thing or all the other." 

Before we go into the story of the war that was soon to 
burst upon the country, let us take a view of the two sections 
that stood so hostile to each other. 

There were in 1861 thirty-four States in the Union. Of 
these eleven Southern States seceded, leaving twenty-three 
Northern States. The Northern States had a comparison 
population of twenty- two million. The Southern of the two 
States had a population of nine milhon of which ^®^*^°^^ 
over three and a half million were slaves. The South had 
about one-fourth the white population of the North. 

The South was under the necessity of organizing an army 
and a navy, and estabhshing a government that should be 
recognized abroad. There were few machine shops in the 
South, and at first no powder mills or factories for making 
blankets, canteens, and other army supplies. These already 
existed in the North, which was the manufacturing section of 
the country. 

The South had become more and more an agricultural 
section. The stream of immigration of foreign labor settled 
North or passed by the South on its way to the West. Foreign 
labor could not and would not compete with slavery. 



366 American History 

The world understood that the South furnished Httle else 
than cotton, and needed no labor but slaves. Upon cotton the 
South based its hope for foreign recognition, since the mills 




Abraham Lincoln 



of Europe would be compelled to close if the supply was cut 
off. It was said, '' Cotton is king." The South was to have 
the advantage of fighting upon its own soil, near its own fields 
and supphes, and in defense of its own cities and property. 



The Civil War 367 

In his inaugural address ^ President Lincoln declared the 
Southern States need have no fear of a Repubhcan President. 
He stated that he had no purpose to interfere Lincoln's 
directly or indirectly with slavery in the States inaugural 
where it already existed, because he had no law- ^^®^*^ 
ful right to do so. He believed the union of the States to 
be perpetual, and that no State could withdraw from the 
Union upon its own motion. He considered the Union, 
therefore, unbroken, and would continue to execute the laws 
in all the States, North and South. 

2. THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR 

We are now to learn the story of the great war between 
the States, or the Civil War, as it is generally called. It is 
a sad story of many battles and of much bloodshed. It is an 
inspiring story of heroic men on both sides who fought, and 
many of whom died, for what they thought was right. 

Nobody foresaw the four years of long and bitter struggle. 
In fact, everybody hoped there would be no war at all. The 

1 The opinions of Lincoln regarding the seceding States and his duty as Presi- 
dent are fully expressed in his inaugural address, March 4, 1861. In that ad- 
dress he said : 

"I hold that, in contemplation of universal law, and of the Constitution, 
the union of these States is perpetual. 

"It follows from these views, that no State, upon its own mere motion, 
can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and ordinances to that effect 
are legally void. 

"I therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, the 
Union is unbroken ; and to the extent of my ability, I shall take care, as the 
Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be 
faithfully executed in all the States. 

"The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the 
property and places belonging to the Government, and to collect the duties 
and imposts ; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will 
be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere." 



368 American History- 

South wanted peaceable separation, and the North expected 
the seceding States to return to the Union. 

Virginia proposed that a peace conference of all the States 
be held in Washington. Delegates from seven Southern 
Efforts for States and fourteen Northern States met in 
peace Washington in February, 1861. After three 

weeks' discussion the conference agreed on recommendations 
to be made to Congress. These recommendations, however, 
were not accepted by that body. 

Before Lincoln had been inau- 
gurated. South Carohna had sent 
three commissioners to Washington 
to treat with President Buchanan 
for the pubhc property that had been 
seized in that State, and to arrange 
for a division of the public debt. 
The President sent them word he 
would meet them as private gentle- 
men, but would not see them as 

Gen. p. G. T. Beauregard ,. o 

commissioners of a seceding State. 

In the meantime Major Robert Anderson of the United 
States Army held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. He 
Fort Sumter had but a handful of men, and was preparing to 
threatened defend his fort from an attack. Notice was 
given to the President of the United States that any attempt 
to reenforce this fort by sending armed men for its defense 
would be looked upon as an act of war. 

Lincoln became President in March, 1861. In April, 
word was received by the Confederate government that a 
fleet had sailed from the North, with men and provisions, to 
strengthen Fort Sumter. The South accepted this as an 
act of hostility, and prepared to meet it. Beauregard, the 




The Civil War 



369 



Confederate general, was ordered to demand the surrender 
of the fort. If the surrender was refused, he was to fire upon 
the fort and capture it before the fleet arrived. Major 
Anderson refused to surrender. 

The fleet moved southward and soon came in sight of 
Charleston. Beauregard sent word to the fort that unless 
it surrendered at once he would open fire in an hour. The 
women and children had been removed from the fort to a 
place of safety, and preparations had been made for defense. 

At four o'clock in the morning of April 12, 1861, the first 
gun of the war was fired from a Confederate battery. The 
shell rose high in the air and burst on the fort. The 
In a few minutes other guns opened. At seven bombardment 
o'clock the guns of Sumter began their reply. All day long 
and all the next night, for thirty-four hours the bombard- 
ment continued. On ^. w-- 



the second day the 
fort was almost in 
ruins, and fire was so 
near the magazine 
that the powder had 
to be thrown into the 
sea. 

Major Anderson, 
who had made a 
brave defense, now 
agreed to surrender the fort. The Stars and Stripes was 
lowered, and the Confederate flag was put in its place. 
Major Anderson was allowed to salute his flag with fifty guns, 
and with his troops was given transportation to New York. 

Strangely enough, not a man had been killed in the bom- 
bardment. The bells of Charleston rang, the people shouted 




Fort Sumter Bombarded, April 12, 1861 



370 American History 

and paraded the streets. The first guns of the war had 
sounded. Sumter had been fired upon to prevent reenforce- 
ment, and the whole country was wild with the exciting news. 

The South declared the North had begun the war by send- 
ing a fleet of vessels, with men and ammunition, to reenforce 
Sumter. The North declared that the South had begun the 
war by firing the first gun. At any rate, the war was opened, 
and there was no longer a question of peace. 

The people in the South who were opposed to secession 
at once accepted the situation and followed the. fortunes of 
the Confederacy. Those in the North who were opposed 
to coercion left off their arguments. The flag had been 
fired upon. Henceforth there was talk of nothing else than 
war. 

President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to regain 
the forts and other public property that had been seized in 
The caU th>e South. President Davis also called for vol- 

to arms unteers to resist invasion. On both sides the 

response was overwhelming. The call to arms found a country 
eager for war. There were mustering of troops, organizing 
of companies, and drilling of soldiers going on everywhere. 
Both sides soon had armies in the field ready for the great 
struggle. 

When the call for volunteers was made for the Northern 
army, the States of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and 
Arkansas decided to withdraw from the Union and join the 
Confederacy. This made eleven Confederate States in all. 
The capital had already been moved from Montgomery to 
Richmond. All eyes were turned toward Virginia as the 
ground for the first great battle of the war. 

In July, 1861, the Northern army, sometimes called the 
Federal army, or the Union army, commanded by General 



The Civil War 



371 



Irvin McDowell, moved out of Washington on its way to 
capture the Confederate capital. The cry was, "On to Rich- 
mond ! " The North hoped to end the war by a "On to 
short and sharp campaign. Richmond!" 

General Beauregard was at Manassas Junction in com- 
mand of the Southern army. Word arrived that McDowell's 
army was on the march. General Joseph E. Johnston was 
at Winchester. The 
Confederate govern- 
ment telegraphed John- 
ston to move at once 
to the assistance of 
Beauregard. Johnston 
hastened to join Beau- 
regard to help him give 
battle to the advanc- 
ing Northern army. 

On Sunday, July 21, 
the first battle of Man- 
First battle assas, or 

of Manassas Bull Run 
orBuURun ^^ j^ j^ 

otherwise known, be- 
gan. At first the Con- 
federates were driven slowly back, but were rallied on a hill, 
or plateau, by General Thomas J. Jackson. Here they firmly 
received the attack of the Northern troops. At a critical 
moment an officer rushed up to Jackson and said, " General, 
they are beating us back." " Then, sir," replied Jackson, 
" we will give them the bayonet." A few minutes later, seeing 
the troops around Jackson standing their ground so firmly, 
General Bee, a Confederate officer, called out to his own men, 




Gen. Stonewall Jackson 



372 American History 

"There stands Jackson like a stone wall." Henceforth he 
was to be known in history as Stonewall Jackson. 

After some hours of hard fighting on the plateau, fresh 
troops arrived to reenforce the Southern army. The Feder- 
als, thinking a new army had burst upon them, and worn out 
by the long day's fighting, began to retreat. 

Soon they began to run, and shortly the whole army was 
in a most disorderly rout. The soldiers broke ranks, and 
The retreat to ran from the field in panic, nor could many of 
Washington them be stopped until they were safe in Washing- 
ton. In this way the first battle of Manassas was a great 
Confederate victory. 

The news was received with great dismay in the North. 
It was clear that the war was not to be ended so easily, nor 
How the news was it a holiday matter. With a deep and serious 
was received purpose the North began preparations on a large 
scale to carry on the w^ar. Congress authorized the President 
to call for a half million soldiers, and arranged for a revenue 
of a million dollars a day to pay for the expenses of the war. 

The South was not so prompt. The battle of Manassas 
had created a confidence in her power that was far from 
prudent. Many persons foolishly boasted that the war was 
over and there would be no more fighting. The Confeder- 
ate Congress, however, put the South on a war footing, and 
authorized the enhstment of 400,000 soldiers for three years. 

3. THE WAR IN THE WEST 

The general war plan of the North was to move steadily 
Northern plan against Richmond in Virginia and capture the 
of the war Confederate capital ; also to force a way down the 
Mississippi River, capture all the Confederate forts and posts, 



The Civil War 373 

gain the control of that river, and thus cut the Confederacy 
in two ; then to move through the heart of the Southern 
States and end the war. 

We have seen how the campaign opened in Virginia. Let 
us leave the armies resting there and preparing for other 
battles, while we see what went on in the West. 

The Confederates held a chain of forts all the way from 
Virginia to the Mississippi, running through Kentucky. The 




Gen. Grant and His Troops March Overland to Attack Fort Donelson 

Federals planned to force their way into Tennessee, but to 
do this their gunboats had to pass Fort Henry on the Ten- 
nessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River. 
These forts were in the northern part of Tennessee and only 
twelve miles apart. 

Early in 1862 General U. S. Grant, in charge of the Federal 
troops, moved his army by gunboats up the Tennessee River 
and captured Fort Henry without much difficulty. He then 
sent the gunboats by the Cumberland River to attack Fort 



374 



American History 



Donelson, while he marched across the country to join 
them. The weather was very cold, and the suffering of 
Forts Henry the soldiers as they fought in the snow and ice 

and Donelson ^^S dreadful. 

The fire from the gunboats and the attack of Grant's 
soldiers soon made it impossible for the Confederates to 

remain in surrender of 
the forts. FortDpnelson 

The commanding of- 
ficer sent word to 
Grant that he would 
like to confer with 
him about the terms 
of surrender. Grant 
rephed, " No terms 
except unconditional 
and immediate sur- 
render can be ac- 
cepted." The fort, 
with all its stores and 
nearly the entire gar- 
rison of soldiers, then 
fell into the hands 
of the Federals, 
February i6, 1862. 
The Confederate army, under General Albert Sidney 
Johnston, turned southward, leaving Kentucky and the upper 
„ , , part of Tennessee to the Federals. Grant fol- 

Battle of ^ 

Shiiohor lowed close behind. At Pittsburg Landmg, or 
Pittsburg Shiloh, near the fine between Mississippi and 
Tennessee, Johnston suddenly turned on Grant, 
and, April 6, 1862, opened the great battle of Shiloh, 



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Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston 



The Civil War 



375 




Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, Exhausted by 
Loss OF Blood, Falls from His Horse 



The sudden attack threw the Federals into confusion. 
General Sherman, in command of one of the divisions of the 
Northern army, acted with great courage and coolness. 
Twice wounded, horse 
after horse shot from 
under him, he drew his 
troops out of danger 
and saved them from 
defeat. 

General Johnston, 
while leading his sol- 
diers and cheering them 
on in the afternoon, 
w^as shot in the leg. 
Blood flowed from the 
wound, but he rode on, 
cheering his men, until, 

faint and exhausted, he fell from his saddle and a few moments 
later expired. His death was a great loss to the Confederacy. 

The battle lasted during two days. On the first day the 
Federals were forced back almost into the river, when night 
closed the engagement. The next morning fresh Mississippi 
troops arrived to their relief, the tide of battle opened to 
turned, the Confederates w^ere driven back, and ^^^^^^"^s 
retreated to Corinth. At the same time important forts on 
the Mississippi River were captured by the Federals, includ- 
ing the town of Memphis. In three months the Mississippi 
River had been opened as far down as Vicksburg, and the 
Northern army had penetrated deep into the lines of the 
Confederacy. 

About two weeks after the battle of Shiloh a Federal fleet 
under command of Admiral David Farragut steamed up 



376 



American History 



the Mississippi River to capture the city of New Orleans. 
For nearly a week the fleet bombarded the two forts that 
defended the city. The forts replied, but with little effect. 

Painting his vessels black, Farragut glided past the forts at 
night. As soon as the fleet was discovered, a terrible fire was 
Attack on opeued upon the vessels. Burning rafts were set 
New Orleans afloat, shot and shell were poured upon them, but 
the fleet held on. Past the forts were Confederate war vessels 
that gave battle to Farragut, but these were soon driven 
ashore. Practically uninjured, the Federal fleet moved up 
to the city. 

New Orleans was thrown into a state of panic. Pubhc 
property and stores of all kinds were burned, ammunition 
Surrender of was sunk in the river, cotton was destroyed, and 
New Orleans wooden ships set on fire to drift against the 
enemy. When Farragut arrived he demanded the surrender 
of the city, which was given after a three days' conference 

with the mayor and council 
(April 29, 1862). 

The loss of New Orleans was 
a great blow to the Confederacy. 
It was the largest city in the 
South and the chief center of 
its cotton trade. It was the 
main gateway to the rich grain- 
fields of the West, which sup- 
phed food to the soldiers in the 
field as well as to the people 
at home. Its loss gave the 
lower Mississippi River into the Federal control and for- 
ever crushed the hopes of the Southern States for foreign 
recognition. 




Admiral David G. Farragut 



The Civil War 377 

4. EVENTS ON THE SEA 

One of the first acts of President Lincoln had been to 
declare all the Southern ports in a state of blockade. By this 
is meant that armed vessels were to be stationed Blockade 
outside all the harbors of the South to prevent declared, 
ships coming out or going in. Thus all trade with ^" ' ' ^ 
foreign countries would be cut off. 

At first the blockade was not very effective, but as the war 
progressed the North built and equipped more vessels until 
the Southern ports were shut up tight and were watched day 
and night by the blockading fleets. 

In order to get cotton to European markets and buy guns 
and ammunition, besides such necessities as salt and medicines, 
the Southern ships had to pass these vessels in Running the 
the harbors by " running the blockade." To do Wockade 
this, small vessels, painted some dark color and not bearing 
any lights, slipped in the dead of night silently and slowly 
around the war vessels, and when safe outside hurried to 
Havana, or other West Indian ports. 

There they sold the cotton to foreign vessels and bought 
supphes to take home again. With this load they slipped as 
secretly as possible past the blockading vessels on their way 
home. It was dangerous and exciting sport, especially when 
the blockade runner was discovered and a long chase began. 

An event which came near involving the United States in 
a war with England occurred a short time after the blockade 
was established. The Confederate government had ap- 
pointed two representatives to secure recognition of the 
Confederacy in foreign countries. James Mason was ap- 
pointed to London, and John Slidell to Paris. 

These commissioners escaped the blockade at Charleston 



378 American History 

and reached Havana. Here in November, 1861, they were 
taken on board a British steamer named Trent. On the day 
The Trent after the Trent left Havana she was stopped by 
Affair ^ United States war vessel and searched. Mason 

and Slidell were arrested against the protest of the British 
ofhcer and carried to Boston, where they were held as prisoners 
of war. 

Great indignation arose in England at this outrage to the 
British flag. The English government at once demanded 
that the commissioners be given up or that war would be 
declared against the United States. The right to search 
vessels of foreign nations had brought on the War of 181 2, 
and the United States had done the very thing they fought 
the British for doing. Seeing the justice of the demand, 
President Lincoln directed that Mason and Slidell be released 
and sent to England. This is known as '' The Trent Affair." 

The commissioners failed to accomplish the purpose for 
which they were sent. The Confederate States were never 
recognized as a separate government. 

The South was not entirely without a fleet of war vessels. 
President Davis had given commissions to many privateers 
The cruise of to prey upon the commerce of the enemy. Some 
the Alabama ^g^j- vcsscls, notably the Alabama, had been built 
in England for the Confederate government. The English 
government allowed the Alabama to escape from the ship- 
yards under the pretense of having her make a trial trip. 
Once outside, the Alabama -put to sea, hoisting the Confederate 
flag in August, 1861. 

She started out, under command of Raphael Semmes, on 
her career of destruction. Crossing the Atlantic, she cap- 
tured twenty merchant vessels of the United States. Turn- 
ing southward she cruised for three years through the Gulf 



The Civil War 



379 



of Mexico, along the West Indies and the coast of South 
America. Altogether in four years the Alabama destroyed 
sixty vessels, valued at ten million dollars. 

A United States war vessel, the Kearsarge, was sent in 
pursuit. At Cherbourg, France, the Alabama had put into 
port for supplies. The Kearsarge waited outside the harbor. 




The "Kearsarge" Sinks the "Alabama- 



The Alabama came out to engage in battle, though badly 
prepared after her long cruise. The engagement lasted but 
a short while, and the Alabama was sunk. 

The fact that the Alabama, and other Confederate war 
vessels, had been built in England brought on a controversy 
for damages between the United States and that The Alabama 
country. The United States claimed that England Claims 
had violated the laws of neutral nations in allowing war 
vessels to be built and equipped in her ports. The dis- 
pute lasted for many years, and was finally settled in 1872 



380 American History 

by England paying fifteen and a half million dollars to 
the United States. This incident became known as the 
" Alabama Claims." 

About a month before the battle of Shiloh a strange naval 
duel occurred in Hampton Roads, near the entrance to Chesa- 
peake Bay. This was the battle between two ironclad vessels 
named the Virginia and the Monitor. 

When the Federals abandoned the navy yard at Norfolk 
they sank a war vessel named the Merrimac. This vessel 
had been raised by the Confederate authorities, its hull com- 
pletely covered with a heavy protection of iron, and its prow 
fitted with an iron ram. It carried two heavy guns, and was 
a most formidable enemy. It had been rechristened the 
Virginia. In March, 1862, it steamed into Hampton Roads 
to attack the wooden ships of the Federal fleet. 

One may imagine the consternation the great monster 
created. Its iron sides could not be pierced by cannon shot, 
The attack of but on the Other hand its great guns could easily 
the Virginia penetrate the wooden hulls of the enemy's vessels, 
and its terrible prow could deal a deadly blow. 

The Virginia made straight for the Cumberland. Its ram 
made a hole in her side that sent her to the bottom with more 
than a hundred men on board. The Congress was next 
attacked by the guns of the Virginia, and that vessel soon 
surrendered and was set on fire. All the other vessels of the 
Federal fleet saw their impending fate. There seemed no 
escape from the floating fort on whose iron sides cannon 
balls made no impression. 

The news of the exploits of the Virginia was telegraphed 
North and created great dismay. Suppose the Virginia 
should ascend the Potomac and bombard Washington itself! 
Suppose it should destroy all the Union vessels ! What 



The Civil War 



3 



would become of "the blockade, and what then would be the 
result of the war ! 

Night had put an end to the first day's fighting of the 
Virginia. The next morning as she steamed out to renew 
her work of destruction there appeared a stranger ^j^^ atnvai 
on the waters. It was another ironclad, named of the 
the Monitor, that had arrived in the night. It ^^"'■'^'' 
looked like " sl cheese box on a raft." It lay with its decks 
almost level with the water, and in the center had a revolving 




The "Virginia" and the "Monitor," in Hampton Roads, Engage in the 
First Battle of Ironclads, March, 1862 

turret for guns. It had come just in time to protect the North- 
ern vessels from the attack of the Virginia. 

Cautiously the two ironclads approached each other. 
When within a distance of one hundred yards the Monitor 
opened fire, and began the first battle of ironclads The duel of 
the world had ever known. Sometimes the vessels *^® ironclads 
were almost side by side, then again they stood off a half 
mile apart. Shot after shot rained upon their sides, but 



382 American History 

without effect. Neither suffered any considerable damage. 
Each was invulnerable from the guns then known to warfare. 
After a while the pilot house of the Monitor was damaged 
and she steamed away for repairs. The Virginia withdrew 
to Norfolk. The battle was left undecided and was not 
renewed. 

It was now evident that one ironclad was worth more than 
all the wooden vessels put together. The day of ironclad war 
vessels had arrived. The battle in Hampton Roads was the 
most important single event of the war, since it revolution- 
ized all naval warfare. 

5. THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN 

We left the Northern army demoralized after the battle 
of Manassas. For over six months, while the campaign in 
General ^^^ West was going on, nothing of great impor- 

George B. tance had happened on the soil of Virginia. Gen- 
Mccieiian ^^^^ Qeorge B. McClellan had been appointed 
Commander-in-Chief of the Union army, and had spent the 

time in thoroughly drilling and 
organizing the army of the Poto- 
mac. The autumn passed and 
the winter came on while he was 
getting ready. General Joseph 
E. Johnston, in command of the 
Southern army, was watching 
him and preparing to meet his 
advance. 

In February, 1862, the popular 

Gen. George B. McClellan . r -i 

cry for a forward movement was 
too great to be ignored, and McClellan with 120,000 men 
started on the famous Peninsular campaign. Taking his 




The Civil War 



383 



army by transports down the Chesapeake, he landed at 
Fortress Monroe and proposed to march against Richmond 
by the narrow strip of land between the York Preparations 
and the James rivers. ^^^ advance 

At Yorktown he spent a month besieging a Confederate 
force, which retired towards Richmond just as the Federal 
army was ready to attack. At Williamsburg an guttles 
engagement occurred, and the Confederates re- along the 
tired. At Seven Pines or Fair Oaks a furious ^^^^^"^^ 
battle occurred in which General Johnston was wounded, 
and many men on both sides were killed. At last the Union 
army came within ten miles of Rich- 
mond, and could see the church spires 
and the smoke from the chimneys. It 
was to be a long time yet before they 
saw the inside of the city. 

In the meantime a remarkable cam- 
paign had been going on in the Shen- 
andoah Valley. General Stonewall 
Jackson had a force of fifteen thousand 
men, which was opposed by two Federal 
armies under General Banks and Gen- 
eral Fremont. Their object was to 
unite and crush Jackson, and join McClellan on the Peninsula. 

Jackson, however, was one of the most brilliant leaders in 
.the war. During the famous Valley campaign, he drove the 
Federals out of Winchester, and so confused all jackson's 
his opposing enemies as to prevent them joining Vaiiey 
their forces. He came so dangerously near Wash- <^^°^P^^sn 
ington as to throw the authorities into sudden alarm. Word 
was sent to McClellan in the greatest haste to detach troops 
to protect the capital from capture by Jackson, 




Gen. Joseph E. Johnston 



384 American History 

In forty days Jackson had marched his little army of 
fifteen thousand men over four hundred miles. He had 
utterly routed four armies in succession, aggregating sixty 




Gen. Robert E. Lee 



thousand men, and prevented the uniting of the Federal 
forces sent to destroy him. He had captured thirty-five 
hundred of the enemy, and killed or wounded as many 
more. After this series of movements he quietly marched his 



The Civil War 385 

army to Richmond and joined his forces with those confront- 
ing McClellan. This was in May and June, 1862. 

When General Johnston was wounded at the battle of 
Seven Pines, he was succeeded in command of the Confed- 
erate army by General Robert E. Lee. General Roi,ertE Lee 
McClellan, in a campaign of four months, had succeeds 
moved up the Peninsula, and was now with a •'° "^*°^ 
large army almost at the very entrance of the Confederate 
capital. 

General Lee, desiring to know more about the task before 
him, sent General J. E. B. Stuart, with a body of cavalry, to 
Stuart rides ^^d out the strength 
around and position of Mc- 

Mccieiian ciellan's army. General 
Stuart rode entirely around Mc- 
Clellan's forces, escaped unnoticed, 
and brought the information needed 
by General Lee. In the meantime 

Jackson had arrived on the scene, ^-c^'^^^^^^^i > 

having kept the Federal army . 
from joining McClellan before ^en. j.' e. b. Stuart 
Richmond. 

Now began that series of desperate engagements around 
Richmond, known as the Seven Days' Battles. They were 
fought in the last days of June, . 1862. There Battles 
was fighting every day for a week, and at night around 
the tired soldiers had to march through swamps ^^'^^"^^^^ 
and woods to take position for the next day's battle. 

The skill of Lee, Jackson, and Stuart at length succeeded 
in forcing McClellan to withdraw to Harrison's Landing on 
the James River, where his army was safe under the protec- 
tion of gunboats. McClellan had lost fifteen thousand men, 




386 American History 

besides quantities of arms and stores. Lee had lost about 
the same number of men, but Richmond was safe for a while. 
Thus ended the Peninsular campaign. 

6. PROGRESS OF THE WAR 

After the battles around Richmond, McClellan's army was 
recalled to Washington, and General John Pope was put in 
command. Lee decided to move northward, and, if possible, 
carry the war into the enemy's country. 

Toward the last of August, 1862, the armies of Pope and 
Lee came together on the old battle ground of Manassas. 
The second Stonewall Jackson held the enemy in check until 
battle of he was joined by Lee, after which the Confederates 

Manassas swept everything before them. The second battle 
of Manassas was also a Confederate victory. General Pope 
was now reheved, and General McClellan was again put in 
command. 

Lee decided to move into Maryland. Early in September 
he crossed the Potomac near Harper's Ferry. McClellan 
met him in Boonesborough, and forced him to retreat. Stone- 
wall Jackson captured Harper's Ferry with a large quantity 
of ammunition and supplies. 

The two armies of Lee and McClellan now faced each 
other near Sharpsburg on Antietam Creek, and one of the 
Battle of bloodiest battles of the war occurred, September 

Antietam 17. The battle lasted all day, and until darkness 
or arps urg ^^^^^q j^ impossible to continue. The next day 
the troops rested facing each other. The night of the i8th Lee 
recrossed the Potomac unmolested. It was a drawn battle, 
but it ended the invasion of Maryland. 

McClellan was again relieved, and General A. E. Burn- 
side was put in command of the Federal armies. Burnside, 



The Civil War 



387 



with a large army, moved southward in December, 1862, 
and Lee met him at Fredericksburg. The center of Lee's 
army held a position called Marye's Heights, battle of 
Burnside hurled his men against this position Fredericks- 
only to be repulsed with terrible slaughter. His ^^^ 
troops found it difficult to advance over the piles of dead. 
When the night closed over the scene there were thirteen 





Gen. Lee Advances into Maryland, September, 1802 



thousand dead on the Federal side, and four thousand on the 
Confederate side. Burnside retired with his army, and soon 
afterwards resigned his position. He was succeeded by 
General Joseph Hooker, known as " Fighting Joe Hooker." 
While these events were taking place, President Lincoln 



388 American History 

was considering the emancipation of all the slaves held in 
the Southern States. Soon after the battle of Antietam he 
Proclamation issued a proclamation declaring that from January 
of Emanci- I, 1863, all persons held in slavery in any State 
pation ^j. p^j.^ q£ ^ State then in arms against the United 

States should be free. 

Lincoln said his object in the war was to save the Union. 
He declared, '' If I could save the Union without freeing any 
slaves, I would do it ; and if I could save it by freeing all the 
slaves, I would do it ; and if I could save it by freeing some 
and leaving others alone, I would do that." 

He resolved to declare all the slaves in the Confederate 
States free, as an act of military necessity, and as a means of 
ending the war and saving the Union. 

The proclamation had but little immediate effect upon 
the negroes in the South.^ They knew that their freedom 
or slavery depended upon the failure or success of the Southern 
armies. 

There were some who joined the Federal armies as they 
passed through the South, and became active soldiers on the 
Northern side. Most of them, however, remained quietly 
upon the farms, laboring without complaint, content to be at 
the old home and live in the old way. 

General Hooker advanced in April, 1863, with an army of 

1 Of the conduct of the negroes during the war, Henry W. Grady said : 
"History has no parallel to the faith kept by the negro in the South during 
the war. Often five hundred negroes to a single white man, and yet through 
these dusky throngs the women and children walked in safety, and the unpro- 
tected homes rested in peace. Unmarshaled, the black battalions moved 
patiently to the fields in the morning to feed the armies their idleness would 
have starved, and at night gathered anxiously at the big house to 'hear the 
news from marster,' though conscious that his victory made their chains endur- 
ing. ... A thousand torches would have disbanded every Southern army, 
but not one was lighted." 



The Civil War 



389 



over a hundred thousand men, against General Lee, who had 
an army of Httle over fifty thousand. At Chancellorsville, 
a few miles from Fredericksburg, the two armies chancellors- 
confronted each other. Lee sent Jackson around ^^^^® 
to the rear of Hooker's army. Jackson fell so suddenly and 
swiftly upon the Federal flank that it was thrown into panic 
and confusion. Lee attacked the Federals in front and the 




Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville Is Accidentallii Shoi bv His 
Own Men 



rout was complete. Hooker retired with his army across the 
Rappahannock. The advance of the Federal army was 
again completely checked (May 2-3). 

The victory was dearly bought. Stonewall Jackson had 
ridden out in the evening to reconnoiter the position of the 
enemy, and was returning to camp after darkness had set in. 
His own men not recognizing him, and thinking his party 
was a body of Federal cavalry, fired upon them. General 
Jackson was wounded and fell from his horse. 



390 



American History 



He was borne on a litter to a farmhouse near by, and in a 
few days died. His last thoughts were upon the battle, and 
he was muttering orders as his life ebbed away. His last 
words were, " Let us cross over the river and rest under the 
shade of the trees." His death was a great loss to the Con- 
federate cause. Lee wept when he heard the sad news, and 
said, *' I have indeed lost my right arm." 



7. CRISES IN THE WAR 

Lee now decided to invade Pennsylvania. By this move 
he hoped to get food and clothing for his soldiers from the 

stores and fields of the North, to 
threaten Washington, and, if he de- 
feated the Federal army, to secure 
foreign recognition of the independ- 
ence of the Confederate States, and 
perhaps dictate peace to the Northern 
States. 

Early in June, 1863, with an army 
of about sixty thousand men, Lee 
crossed the Potomac and moved on 
into Pennsylvania. General George 
B. Meade, now in command of the 
Union army of over one hundred thousand men, set out to 
check his advance. 

The two armies faced each other at the little village of 
Gettysburg. The battle began July i, 1863. On the first 
day the Federal division was driven through 
^ ^^^ the streets of the town, and becoming confused 
lost many men. Lee did not press his advantage, but 
waited for the arrival of the remainder of his army. That 
night reenforcements arrived for both sides, troops took 




Gen. George B. Meade 



The Civil War 391 

position for the battle next day, and officers held important 
councils. 

On the second day, in the afternoon, an attack was made 
on the Union lines, but without any particular advantage. 
The great struggle occurred on the third day of the battle, 
when General Lee resolved to capture Cemetery Hill, the 
key to the position of the Federal army. 

About one o'clock Lee opened fire on Cemetery Hill with 
one hundred and fifty guns. The roar of artillery and the 
bursting of shells made a noise that shook the earth. The 
terrible bombardment lasted nearly two hours. Tons of 
metal were poured against the Union lines, but Meade's men 
were immovable. 

Lee sent word to Longs tree t to charge the hill. The 
order was turned over to General Pickett, who saluted, and 
moved his troops out of cover of the woods and Pickett's 
into the opening between the two lines. Fifteen charge 
thousand men moved steadily across the valley a mile wide 
to attack the Federal guns. 

The Federal guns played ceaselessly on the advancing 
Confederates. The brave troops were not dismayed. Every 
soldier pulled his cap down over his eyes and moved forward 
with easy, swinging step, knowing that upon the issues of 
that hour hung the destiny of the great battle. Not a man 
hesitated, as with steady march the troops crossed the valley 
and began to ascend the slope of Cemetery Hill. The Federal 
troops were in readiness behind their breastworks, holding 
their fire until the Confederates were in range of their guns. 

Then burst the terrible rattle of musketry. Thousands of 
Federal guns mowed down the advancing Con- 

r • r r The repulsc 

federates. Volleys of miantry lire made great 

gaps in their ranks. Still they rushed forward, engaged 



392 



American History 



the gunners hand to hand, and planted their flags on the 
breastworks. 

The terrible fire was more than the Confederate troops could 
stand. Their ranks were thrown into confusion, and soon the 
whole division began to fall back. Thousands had fallen in 




Pickett's Repulse at Gettysburg Was the Turning Point of the War 
IN THE East 



the charge. The rest hesitated, wavered, and retired slowly- 
down the slope. Silently the remainder of the broken regi- 
ments retreated across the valley of death and into their own 
lines. Pickett's charge had been repulsed. 

In this battle over forty thousand men were killed Or 
wounded, about evenly divided between the two armies. 
Gettysburg was the turning point of the war in the East. 



The Civil War 



393 



It was the high- water mark of the Confederate cause. Ten 
days later Lee recrossed the Potomac and retired to the 
banks of the Rapidan. There were no more recruits to 
fill up the gaps in his 
army made by the awful 
charges at Gettysburg. 

While these events were 
happening in Virginia, 
the Confederate army 
in the West had gradu- 
ally been losing ground. 
After the battle of Shiloh 
and the capture of New 
Orleans, all the fortified 
posts along the Missis- 
sippi fell into the hands 
of the Federals, except 
Port Hudson and Vicks- 
burg. Those places stood 
on high bluffs above 
the river level and were 
strongly defended. 

The Southern forces 
under Bragg marched 
into Kentucky in the summer of 1862. The movement was 
checked at the battle of Perryville in October, and Bragg 
established his winter quarters at Murfreesboro, perryvUie 
about forty miles from Nashville. Here on the and Mur- 
last days of the year he was attacked by General ^^^^ ^^^ 
Rosecrans. A desperate three days' battle ensued, at the 
end of which Bragg had to abandon his winter quarters. 

General Grant, who was now in command of the Union 




Gen. Ulysses S. Grant 




394 American History 

forces in the West, turned his attention to Vicksburg, deter- 
mined to reduce that stronghold and open the Mississippi.^ 
The siege of After Several battles around Vicksburg the Con- 
Vicksburg federates under General Pemberton retired within 
the city. General W. T. Sherman was sent to watch the 
Confederate army in the interior, and Grant settled down to 
the long siege of Vicksburg. 

The gunboats on the river and the batteries on the land 
began a merciless fire upon the city. The bursting shells 
made a sad havoc of the buildings, 
and threw the people into a terrible 
panic. For protection against the 
exploding shells the terrified people 
made caves in the hillsides, or hid 
themselves in the cellars of their 
£': houses. There they lived for days 

and weeks with the thunder of burst- 
ing shells and exploding mines con- 
stantly in their ears. 

Gen. N. B. Forrest „ . i i i 

Starvation now stared the people 
in the face. The soldiers had only a small piece of bacon 
and a httle musty bread each day. The people were re- 
duced to eating mule meat, which was sold for a dollar a 
pound. 

The siege of Vicksburg began in May, 1863. By July the 
city was reduced to the point where it could hold out no longer. 
On July 3, General Pemberton wrote General Grant a note 

1 In the campaign against Vicksburg, General Nathan B. Forrest, the famous 
Confederate cavalry leader, did remarkable service in cutting the railroads in 
the rear of Grant's army, and leaving him without supplies. This greatly 
hindered his movements and saved Vicksburg from immediate capture. His 
many cavalry raids and his dramatic character made him one of the most con- 
spicuous figures in the war. 



The Civil War 395 

asking for terms of surrender. In the afternoon the two 
generals met, and honorable terms were agreed upon. 

July 4, the day that Lee began his retreat from Gettys- 
burg, Vicksburg was formally surrendered to General Grant, 
with thirty-one thousand soldiers, sixty thou- The surrender 
sand muskets, and nearly two hundred cannon, of Vicksburg 
Five days afterwards Port Hudson surrendered, and the 
entire length of the Mississippi River was in control of the 
Federal army. President Lincoln received the news with 
great satisfaction, saying, " The Father of Waters now rolls 
unvexed to the sea." 

The capture of Vicksburg and of Port Hudson divided 
the Confederacy in two. Further supplies and provisions 
could no longer come from the West to feed the armies, 
since the Federal gunboats patroled the entire river. The 
defeat at Gettysburg and the fall of Vicksburg, coming almost 
on the same day, decided the fate of the war. Henceforth it 
was merely a question of endurance to an inevitable end. 

8. THROUGH THE HEART OF THE SOUTH 

General Bragg had retired from Murfreesboro to Chatta- 
nooga. General Rosecrans had followed him closely and 
compelled him to move out of that city. In Battle of 
September, 1863, the great battle of Chicka- Chickamauga 
mauga, a few miles from Chattanooga, was fought. It was 
a desperate engagement in which the Federal army was 
saved from disaster by the firmness of General Thomas, who 
was called the '' Rock of Chickamauga." As it was, Rose- 
crans was forced into Chattanooga and was closely besieged 
by General Bragg. 

The Federal army came near suffering the same starvation 
that befell the Southern army at Vicksburg. Sherman, 



396 American History 

however, arrived with troops, and a series of desperate battles 
occurred around Chattanooga, resulting in the defeat of 
General Bragg. Bragg then withdrew his forces into Georgia, 
leaving Chattanooga in the hands of the Union army. 

Important changes in the command of the armies took 
place. General Grant, who had attracted much attention 
General ^y ^^^ ^^^^ generalship, was appointed to the 

Grant put in chief Command of all the Federal armies in the 
comman West. General Joseph E. Johnston, second only 

to Lee in his powers of strategy and skill as a leader, succeeded 
General Bragg in command of the Southern armies in the 
West. In. March, 1864, Grant was made Commander-in- 
Chief of all the forces of the United States, with the rank of 
Lieutenant General. 

General Grant planned two great campaigns, one under 
himself against Lee in Virginia, with the purpose of captur- 
ing Richmond; the other under Sherman against Johnston, 
with the purpose of capturing Atlanta. In this way Grant 
proposed to infold the Confederacy within the coils of 
two mighty armies, and to end the war by a campaign of 
destruction. 

The two campaigns began at the same time in May, 1864. 
On the day after Grant crossed the Rapidan to attack General 
From chatta- ^^^' Sherman left Chattanooga, on his long march 
nooga to through the Confederate States. He had an army 

Atlanta ^£ ^ hundred thousand men and two hundred and 

fifty cannon. Johnston's army was half that size. 

As Sherman advanced, Johnston interposed his army at 
every point. There was sharp fighting almost every day. 
For over two months Johnston slowly retired as Sherman's 
lines threatened to flank his army. By July Johnston had 
reached Atlanta and fortified himself in the city. Sherman 



The Civil War 



397 



had lost about thirty-two thousand men ; Johnston had lost 
about twenty- two thousand. 

At this juncture General John B. Hood was put in command 
of the Confederate army, with directions to attack the Federals 
and drive them back. This Hood tried to do in the bloody 
battles around Atlanta. He failed, however, and then took 
his army into Tennessee, to threaten Sherman's line of sup- 
plies. Here his army was severely defeated in the battles 
around Nashville. This left 
Sherman unopposed to enter 
Atlanta and to continue his 
march through the South. 

It was the policy of General 
Sherman to bring the war to 
a close by making the South 
" feel the hard hand of war." 
When he set out on his 
" March to the Sea," he set 
fire to the city of Atlanta, and 
out of four thousand houses, 
only four hundred were left 
standing. 

•With sixty thousand men Sherman set out for Savannah. 
His army covered a front of forty miles, and the soldiers 
lived on the country as they moved. Farm- The March 
houses, gin houses, cotton crops were burned ; *o *^® ^ea 
horses, cows, hogs, sheep were killed for the soldiers' use; 
barns were rifled of their contents ; slaves were carried away ; 
railroads were destroyed by tearing up the tracks, heating 
the rails, and twisting them around trees. Sherman estimated 
the damage done to the State of Georgia at about one hundred 
million dollars. 




Gen. Wm. T. Sherman 



398 American History 

From Savannah Sherman turned through South Carolina, 
and thence on to Goldsboro, North CaroHna. Following his 
army was a crowd of stragglers that did more damage than 
the soldiers themselves. They were called the " bummers of 
the army." At Columbia, South Carohna, a few of the 
soldiers and bummers broke into the saloons, became drunk, 
and lost all restraint. Nothing could stay them. The city 
was set on fire and was soon reduced to a heap of ruins. ^ 

Sherman's army marched eight hundred miles in six months, 
and cut a path of destruction and desolation through the heart 
of the South. Often in the wake of his army the people were 
glad to eat the corn left by his horses. It was his purpose to 
join Grant in Virginia and unite their forces against Lee. 
Johnston had been recalled to his old command. Sherman 
marched on, opposed only by the small army of Johnston. 
At Goldsboro, North Carolina, the two armies rested facing 
each other, and awaiting the events in Virginia. 

9. THE END OF THE WAR 

General Grant, with an army of one hundred and twenty 
thousand men, and with abundance of provisions and stores 
of all kinds, had moved against General Lee's ragged and 
half-starved army of sixty thousand, at the time that Sher- 
man was on the march through the South. Grant had re- 
solved to overwhelm his antagonist by force of numbers, 

^ In regard to the burning of Columbia, ever since the occurrence there 
has been a difference of opinion as to whether General Sherman ordered, or 
consented to, the unfortunate affair. General Sherman insists that it was done 
by "the bummers of the army." The people of Columbia are strong in their 
belief that he was aware of the intention of his soldiers, that it was a prearranged 
affair^ and that nothing was done to prevent it. In any event, it appears to 
have been an unnecessary and an unfortunate destruction of a large part of a 
beautiful city. 



The Civil War 



399 



and wear him out by exhausting his army and destroying 
his suppHes. 

In May, 1864, Grant crossed the Rapidan and plunged into 
the tangled swamps and dense forest known as " The Wil- 
derness." Here for two days the battle raged Battles in 
so fiercely that saplings and even trees were cut "The 
down by the flying bullets. Grant lost so many Wilderness " 
men that he changed his plan of direct attack, and tried to 
move around Lee's army to seize Spottsylvania Court House. 




The Headquarters of Gen. Grant 



Lee, however, easily detected his plan, and interposed his 
army again between Grant and Richmond. Here another 
assault on Lee's line occurred, but without serious result. 
Grant in two weeks had lost forty thousand men, about two 
thirds as many as Lee had in his whole army. He said, how- 
ever, he " intended to fight it out on this line if it took all 
summer." 
Lee fell back to Cold Harbor and intrenched his forces. 



400 



American History 



Cold Harbor 



Grant hurled an army of one hundred thousand men against 
the Confederate Knes. The result was easily foreseen. His 
men fell by the thousand, while Lee's loss was 
insignificant. Grant now moved around to the 
south of Richmond and laid siege to Petersburg. He had 
resolved to shut up the Confederate army in that place 
until they were compelled by exhaustion to surrender. 

The siege lasted two months. The Federals dug a mine 
under one of the Confederate forts and placed nine thousand 
The mine at pounds of powder in it. It was exploded with 
Petersburg terrible effect. Tons of earth were thrown into 
the air, while human bodies and pieces of artillery were 
scattered in every direction. The Federals rushed in to 

complete the work of destruc- 
tion, but the Confederates re- 
covered their wits in time to 
catch the Federal troops in the 
crater formed by the explosion. 
The place became a slaughter- 
house. In a few hours the Union 
army had lost three or four thou- 
sand men. 

General Lee had sent a de- 
tachment of troops under Gen- 
eral Early to threaten Washing- 
ton. General Early moved up the valley of the Shenandoah 
River. Driving everything before him he came almost to the 
gates of the national capital, but was compelled to return. 
Sheridan in Grant Sent General Philip H. Sheridan in haste 

the Valley j-q intercept Early and thwart his movements. 
This Sheridan succeeded in doing by the battle of Winchester. 
He then set out to devastate the valley of the Shenandoah so 




Gen. Philip H. Sheridan 



The Civil War 



401 



that no army could possibly live in it. He destroyed growing 
crops, mills, barns, bridges, farm implements, and drove off all 
the stock. He said, " A crow flying over the valley would 
have to take his rations." 

As the siege of Petersburg continued, the armies of the 
Confederacy grew weaker and weaker. Admiral Farragut 
had entered Mobile Bay and destroyed the Con- ^j^^ exhaus- 
federate gunboats at that place. The blockade tion of the 
was more rigid than ever. Everything was scarce, ^° ^ ^^^^^ 
and almost the last man had been drafted for the Southern 
army. Lee's forces around Petersburg grew fewer and fewer, 
until at last he had only about 
thirty-five thousand men. 

In March, 1865, an attack was 
made on the Federal fort, Sted- 
man, in front of Petersburg, by 
General John B. Gordon. It was 
a gallant charge, by which three 
hundred Confederates captured 
the fort and one thousand prison- 
ers with the loss of fewer than 
six men. The fort could not be 
held, however, in the face of an 
overwhelming enemy. 

In April, 1865, Grant made a 
determined attack all along the 
hnes around Petersburg. The 
lines were broken, and Lee saw 
that Richmond must soon fall 

into the hands of the Federals. He telegraphed to President 
Davis that the city must be evacuated. 

President Davis and his cabinet quietly left Richmond on 




Farragut, Lashed to the Rig- 
ging, Directs the Entry of 
His Ships into Mobile Bay 



402 



American History 



their way south. Many citizens also prepared to depart, 
and in the confusion fire broke out, and a large part of the 
city was laid in ashes. The Federal forces soon entered the 
city, and the news of its capture was telegraphed throughout 
the North and Europe. It was almost the last act in the 
great drama of the war. 

Lee's army was reduced to a mere handful of men, desti- 
tute of everything, and hemmed in on all sides by the over- 
The surrender whelming for CCS of Grant. To continue the 
of Lee struggle in the face of such odds would be sheer 

madness. Accordingly, the two great commanders met by 
appointment, April 9, 1865, in a farmhouse near Appomattox 

Court House to arrange terms of 
surrender. The two generals had 
known each other in the Mexican 
War, and began to talk over old 
times. Lee was a man of great 
dignity, and his face did not 
betray whether he was glad the 
great conflict was over, or sad at 
the result of the war. 

General Lee said, " I have 
asked for this interview in order 
to ascertain the terms upon 
which you would receive the surrender of my army." Grant 
replied, " Your soldiers will lay down their arms and not 
take them up again during the war." Nothing was said 
about the surrender of side-arms, horses, or private property. 
Grant wrote out the terms, which Lee signed and handed 
back to him. 

Grant then said, '' Your men will need their horses to 
work on their little farms, and I will instruct my officers to 




Gen. John B. Gordon 



The Civil War 



403 



let every man who claims a horse or mule take it home 
with him." Lee expressed his gratification at this, and after 
a few minutes' conversation on other matters, Grant and 
Lee remarked, " I shall be glad to send all my Lee 



f ^^ 





^ mm} ■ 1'*' 



''*^ 






Gen. Lee Surrenders at Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865 



prisoners into your hnes, for I have no provisions for them. 
I have indeed nothing for my own men. They have been 
living for the past few days^ on parched corn, and we are 
badly in need of both rations and forage." Grant at once 



404 American History- 

proposed to supply Lee's veterans with food from his own 
stores. 

Within a few weeks Johnston surrendered his army to 
Sherman. Other armies in the South and West laid down 
their arms, and the war was over. The soldiers on both 
sides quietly dispersed to their homes, and settled down to 
peaceful pursuits. 

Great was the rejoicing in the North when it was known 
that Lee had surrendered. President Lincoln at once con- 
Assassination sidered plans for the treatment of the Southern 
of President States, and for their return to the Union. After 
^^*^° ^ a day of hard work, on April 14, less than a week 

after the news had come of the end of the war, he went to 
Ford's Theater, and was seated in a box with his family and 
friends. An actor, John Wilkes Booth, stole into the box 
behind the President and shot him in the head. 

Leaping on to the stage the assassin brandished a dagger 
and cried out, '' Sic semper tyrannis" (" Thus always to 
tyrants "). The audience was too horror-stricken to act 
promptly. 

The murderer escaped by the rear of the stage, leaped on 
a horse that was ready saddled and waiting, and made his 
way into Maryland and then into Virginia, where he was 
killed while resisting arrest. 

President Lincoln was removed to a house near by and 
died the day after he was wounded. Secretary Stanton, 
who was standing by his bedside, said, " Now he belongs 
to the ages." His death was a national calamity, coming 
at a time when his wise counsels and generous impulses 
were sorely needed in the reconstruction of the seceding 
States. 

In the meantime President Davis had left Richmond, and 



The Civil War 405 

was rapidly making his way southward. He was finally 
overtaken in Georgia by a body of Federal cavalry, and 
carried captive to Fortress Monroe. Here he capture of 
was kept a close prisoner for two years, until he President 
was released on bail. After his release President ^^^^^ 
Davis went to his farm in Mississippi, where he lived in 
dignified retirement until his death in 1889. 

10. HARDSHIPS AND HEROISM 

War is a cruel thing at best. Vast sums of money must 
be expended, thousands of men must be engaged, millions 
of dollars of property must be destroyed, and the homes of 
the people made desolate by the death of brave men. Let 
us hope that nations will learn to settle their differences 
in other ways than by the slaughter of soldiers and the de- 
struction of property. 

It is almost impossible to tell the cost of the war. It 
rose at one time on the Union side to three million dollars a 
day. Counting the value of the hberated slaves. The cost 
the loss by ravaging armies, and the pension °^ *^® ^*^ 
since paid to the soldiers, the war probably represents a cost 
of ten billion dollars. 

From first to last nearly three million men were engaged 
in battle. The losses in single encounters and short cam- 
paigns were at times appalling, equal in number to a small 
army. Over six hundred thousand soldiers were killed in 
battle, or died from wounds and disease during the four 
years of the war. 

The suffering was greater in the South where the war had 

mainly been fought. The Southern people after 

1 ? , . r 111 The suffering 

the surrender of their army found themselves 

almost destitute, their money was valueless, their banks had 



4o6 American History- 

been wrecked, their railroads destroyed ; their fields were 
unplanted, and their slaves had been set free. 

In some places wide regions of country had been laid 
waste, mills and gin houses burned, stock killed or carried 
off, and many a fine old mansion left a heap of smoking 
ruins. The war bore hard upon the Southern people and 
left them in a sad state of desolation. 

The close blockade of the Southern ports by the Federal 
vessels had caused great hardship. Salt especially became 
Scarcity of scarce. Sea water was boiled down, and even 
supplies i\^Q ground of smokehouses where meat had been 

kept was dug up and boiled to get the salt out of the dirt. 
Coffee and tea were rare, and substitutes such as parched 
corn and potatoes were used. Medicine, woolen cloth, paper, 
cutlery, and indeed all the articles the Southern people were 
accustomed to buy, were hard to get, since they could only 
be had by running the blockade. 

For clothing, the people depended on cotton, which they 
made into homespun cloth, frequently by means of hand 
looms. There was no lack of corn, rice, sugar, 
sirup, tobacco, and other products that were 
raised in the South. Often the Northern soldiers lacked 
some of the things the Southern soldiers had, and out on the 
picket lines when all was quiet they would meet and swap 
coffee and knives for sugar and tobacco. 

Confederate money fell off in value as the war advanced. 
It took quantities of it to buy anything. A yard of calico 
Confederate cost I50, a hat cost $300, a barrel of flour cost 
money $400, a pair of boots cost $800, and a horse cost 

several thousand. All that time the pay of a soldier was 
eleven dollars a month, about enough to buy a loaf of bread. 
When the war closed, Confederate money ceased to have any 



The Civil War 



407 



value. Now it is regarded as a curiosity, or is kept as a 
souvenir of the war. 

The women did their part nobly in the war. In the North 
societies were formed to collect hospital suppHes and to send 
nurses to look after the wounded on the battle- 
fields and the sick in the hospitals. In the South 
the women were brave and uncomplaining 'amidst the great 
suffering. They were left behind to care for the farms and 
look after the slaves, in whose fidelity they placed perfect 



The women 




Confederate Money Became Worthless after the Civil War 



faith. They knitted socks, made shirts, and prepared lint 
and bandages for the soldiers. They cut up their carpets 
and curtains to turn them into clothing and comforts for 
those on the battlefield. They sent their own blankets, 
bedding, and towels to the hospitals. The women were as 
brave at home as the soldiers were on the field of battle. 

Nor should we forget the faithful conduct of ^j^^ negroes 
the negroes, and their devotion to those left in during the 
their care. Over a million slaves toiled in the ^^' 
fields all day long to make the crops that fed the Southern 
armies. If they had refused to work, the Southern armies 



4o8 American History 

would have starved. If they had risen in insurrection, or 
threatened the homes of the soldiers, every army would of 
necessity have been disbanded. 

During the war the Confederates in Northern prisons 

numbered 220,000. The Federals in Southern prisbns have 

been variously estimated from 127,000 to 270,000. 

^"o^r.l c At first the prisoners were exchanged man for man, 

prison camps ^ o j 

but toward the end of the war the exchange of 
prisoners was discontinued by the North. Consequently the 
war prisons North and South became crowded. Disease 
followed the need of comforts and the lack of care. Sickness 
and death made every prison a hospital and filled many a 
grave. The suffering of all prisoners on both sides was dis- 
tressing. 

The suffering in Southern prisons was, of course, un- 
avoidable. The Confederate soldiers in the field were almost 
unfed and unclothed, and all Federal prisoners were given 
the same kind and quantity of food and clothing that were 
issued to the Confederate soldiers. There was no medicine 
and no nourishing food for the sick. It could not be obtained. 

The war finally settled the policy of secession. Henceforth 
the Union shall be unbroken, the United States shall be one 
nation, and the people shall have one purpose and one destiny. 
The nation has outgrown the possibility of division. 

The war also settled the question of slavery. Over all 
our land no man is held in bondage to another. The negroes 
of the South are free, and master and slave alike are relieved 
of the burden of ownership. 



The Civil War 409 



TOPICS 

The Southern States Secede. South Carolina secedes from the 
Union. Other States secede. Organizing the Confederate States. 
Taking possession of government property. Reasons for secession. 
What the South contended. Population of the sections. What the 
South had to do. Cotton the main hope of the South. What Lincoln 
said in his inaugural address. 

The Beginning of the War. The efforts for peace and their result. 
The commissioners from South Carolina. Major Anderson at Fort 
Sumter ; demand for surrender ; the bombardment ; the surrender. 
Effect of the news upon the country. Volunteers. Other States join 
the Confederacy. " On to Richmond ! " Movements of the armies. 
The first battle of Manassas or Bull Run. Stonewall Jackson. The 
retreat. Effect upon the North ; effect upon the South. 

The War in the West. War plan of the North. Capture of Fort 
Henry and of Fort Donelson. Unconditional surrender. Battle of 
Shiloh. Death of Albert Sidney Johnston. Opening the Mississippi 
to Vicksburg. Bombarding New Orleans; movement of Farragut's 
fleet ; surrender of New Orleans ; effect upon the South. 

Events on the Sea. The blockade of Southern ports ; running the 
blockade. Mason and Slidell. Stopping the Trent. Indignation in 
England ; release of commissioners ; result of their mission. The cruise 
of the Alabama; the destruction of the Alabama; the claims. Repair- 
ing and renaming the Merrimac; the attack of the Virginia on the 
Northern fleet; the Monitor; the duel of the ironclads; its effect on 
naval warfare. 

The Peninsular Campaign. McClellan and Johnston in Virginia. 
Advance on Richmond. Battles along the Peninsula. Jackson's Valley 
campaign; his success in forty days. Robert E. Lee. Stuart rides 
around McClellan's army. Battles around Richmond ; McClellan re- 
tires to Harrison's Landing. 

Progress of the War. The second battle of Manassas. Lee moves 
into Maryland. Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg. Battle of Freder- 
icksburg. Proclamation of Emancipation; Lincoln's object; effect 
of the Proclamation on the negro. Battle of Chancellorsville ; death 
of Stonewall Jackson. 

Crises in the War. Lee's object in invading Pennsylvania. Be- 



41 o American History- 

ginning of the battle of Gettysburg. The attack on Cemetery Hill; 
Pickett's charge ; the bravery of the troops ; the repulse ; the result of 
the battle. Conditions in the West. Bragg in Kentucky and Tennessee. 
The siege of Vicksburg; distress of the people. Service of General 
Forrest. Surrender of Vicksburg. Opening the Mississippi. 

Through the Heart of the South. Battle of Chickamauga. With- 
drawal of Bragg into Georgia. General Grant becomes Commander-in- 
Chief of the Union army; plans two campaigns. Advance of Sherman 
into Georgia; Johnston's movements; losses. General Hood and his 
movements. Destruction of Atlanta ; the March to the Sea ; burning 
of Columbia. , 

The End of the War. Movement of Grant's army. Battles in the 
Wilderness and losses. Battle of Cold Harbor. The mine at Peters- 
burg ; the crater. Sheridan in the valley of the Shenandoah. Farragut 
at Mobile Bay. The blockade grows more rigid ; distress of the South- 
ern army. Davis leaves Richmond. Richmond falls into the hands of 
the Federal forces. Meeting of Lee and Grant ; their interview ; terms 
of surrender; Grant's generosity. Dispersal of the troops. Assassi- 
nation of Lincoln. Capture of Davis ; his later years. 

Hardships and Heroism. The cost of the war. The numbers engaged ; 
the losses of men. Suffering in the South ; destruction of property ; 
scarcity of supplies ; cotton clothing. Confederate money. The part 
women took in the war. The negroes in the war. Prisoners and prison 
camps. The two questions settled by the war. 

SUBJECTS FOR STUDY 

Give the reasons why the South felt justified in seceding from the 
Union. What was Lincoln's opinion regarding the Union, and his 
purpose regarding the laws? Why is it better to have one government 
of all the States, than to divide the States into two or more governments? 
Discuss the advantages of free labor over slave labor. 

COMPOSITION 

Suppose you had been a Confederate soldier, and write about your 
experience near the end of the war. 

Write a description of the sufferings of the people of Vicksburg during 
the siege of that city. 



The Civil War 41 1 

Suppose you had been a Union soldier with Sherman on his March 
to the Sea, and write some of the things you saw and did. 

MAP STUDIES 

Locate Fort Sumter; Manassas. Trace the progress of the Union 
victories down the Mississippi River. Locate Hampton Roads. Trace 
the progress of McClellan's army in the Peninsula. Locate Antietam 
Creek; Fredericksburg; Chancellorsville ; Gettysburg. Trace the 
progress of Sherman's army from Chattanooga to Atlanta ; to Savannah ; 
to Goldsboro. 

Collateral Reading. " The Battle Hymn of the Republic," by JuHa 
Ward Howe. "Maryland! My Maryland!" by James R. Randall. 
" Bonnie Blue Flag," by H. McCarthy. " Stonewall Jackson's Way," 
by John W. Palmer. " Sheridan's Ride," by Thomas Buchanan Read. 
" The Old Man and Jim," by James Whitcomb Riley. " The Blue and 
the Gray," by Frances M. Finch. " Hammer and Rapier," a novel by 
John Esten Cooke. " Mohun," a novel by John Esten Cooke. " Two 
Little Confederates," a story by Thomas Nelson Page. 



Chapter XII 

RECONSTRUCTION AND EXPANSION 

1. PLANS FOR RECONSTRUCTION 

A few hours after the death of Abraham Lincoln, Vice- 
President Andrew Johnson took the oath of office and became 
President of the United States. 

Like Lincoln himself, President Johnson had come from 
the common people. He was born in North Carolina, and 
Andrew ^^ early life moved to Tennessee. He had but 

Johnson, little education, and that he had gained by his 

President ^^^ efforts. It is said that when he married he 
could scarcely read, and that his wife helped him learn to 
write. 

The great question before the country was what to do 
with the Southern States. They desired to become again a 
part of the United States and to have the union of all the 
States restored. This restoration of the seceded States to 
their places in the Union was called '^ reconstruction." 

It had been President Lincoln's plan to accomplish this 
reconstruction with as much ease and with as little delay 
Lincoln's ^^ possible. He had outlined a generous policy 

plan of re- towards the Southern States, maintaining that 
construction ^j^^^ never had been really out of the Union, 
but only '' out of practical relations with the government." 

President Johnson, under the influence of Lincoln's cabi- 
net, readily undertook to carry out the mild and wise pur- 

412 



Reconstruction and Expansion 413 

poses of his predecessor. In May, 1865, he issued a procla- 
mation of pardon to nearly all those engaged in the war. 
There were a few persons excepted, but these could obtain 
pardon by applying for it. 

During the same year Congress proposed the Thirteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution. This Amendment prohib- 
ited slavery everywhere in the United States, ^j^^ 
and in every place subject to the Constitution of Thirteenth 
the United States. It was submitted to all the ^^^^dment 
States, and being agreed to by the necessary three-fourths, 
became part of the Constitution. 

Following the advice of the President, most of the 
Southern States had called conventions, repealed their ordi- 
nances of secession, adopted the Thirteenth Amendment to 
the Constitution, and some of them had declared the war 
debt null and void. Governments had been Action of the 
organized, and senators and representatives to So^the^n 
Congress had been elected. The soldiers had *^*®^ 
taken the oath of allegiance to the United States govern- 
ment, and all the officials of the States, who were per- 
mitted to do so, had accepted pardon from the general 
government. 

In this way the people of the South, instead of sulking 
over their defeat, came forward manfully and cheerfully, 
willing to do their part towards restoring the Union. 

Congress, however, was not content with the mild meas- 
ures of the President. There were leaders who thought 
the South should be considered conquered ter- 
ritory and treated accordingly. Thereupon the ^^^ 
newly elected senators and representatives from 
the Southern States were denied seats in Congress. A com- 
mittee was appointed to inquire into the condition of the 



414 American History 

Southern States and to see if any of them were entitled to 
representation in Congress. 

Congress made a number of laws for the protection of 
the negroes of the South. Among these was a law establish- 
ing the Freedmen's Bureau, of which we shall learn more 
later on. 

The most pronounced of the measures, however, was the 
Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which made the 
.pjjg negro a citizen, and extended to him all the pro- 

Fourteenth tection of the laws. At the same time it placed 
men ment ^ penalty on any State that passed laws denying 
any citizen the right to vote, by reducing the number of 
representatives which that State should have in Congress in 
proportion to the persons denied the right of voting. This 
Amendment was proposed in 1866, but was not declared a 
part of the Constitution until 1868. 

A^l the Southern States were required to adopt the 
Fourteenth Amendment before they could be admitted to 
the Union. Tennessee came forward at once in 1866, and, 
agreeing to the Amendment, was declared again a member 
of the United States. 

President Johnson was by no means a mild-mannered 
man. His plans for reconstruction had not been approved 
by Congress, and thereupon he engaged in a bitter quarrel 
with the leaders of his party. In political speeches he 
abused the members of Congress, and spoke with unsparing 
harshness of the measures they proposed. 

Congress proceeded to reconstruct the Southern States 
upon its own plans. The bills passed for that purpose were 
promptly vetoed by the President. The measures, how- 
ever, were at once made laws by being passed over his 
veto. 



Reconstruction and Expansion 4 1 5 

The ten Southern States that were still out of the Union 
were, in 1867, placed under military rule. They were 
organized into five military districts, in each -^^^^^j^ 
of which was placed an army with a military command in 
governor in command. Within a year and a * ® °"* 
half seven of the Southern States had agreed to the demands 
of Congress, had adopted the Fourteenth Amendment, and 
their representatives had been admitted to Congress. 

In 1869 Congress proposed the Fifteenth Amendment, 
designed to secure to the negroes the right to vote. It was 
submitted to all the States for ratification. It ^j^^ 
was finally agreed to by the Southern States, and Fifteenth 
in 1870 was declared part of the Constitution. ^^^^^^^^^ 
In January, 1871, Georgia, the last State to be reconstructed, 
was readmitted to the Union. ^ 

Thus, after four years of war and nearly six years of un- 
happy quarrels and dissensions, the Southern States were 
again a part of the Union. 

In the meanwhile the quarrel between President Johnson 
and Congress had deepened, and become very personal. 
Congress had passed a Tenure of Office Bill which forbade 
the President to dismiss from office any official of the gov- 
ernment whose appointment had been confirmed by the 
Senate, without first asking the consent of the Senate. The 
Act was directed at President Johnson, who had requested 

^ Benjamin H. Hill, of Georgia, expressed the sentiment of the Southern people 
in his speech in Congress on the General Amnesty Bill, when he said : 

"There are no Confederates in this house; there are no Confederates any- 
where ; there are no Confederate schemes, ambitions, hopes, desires or purposes 
here. But the South is here, and here she intends to remain. The South wiQ 
never again seek a remedy in the madness of another secession. We are here ; 
we are in the house of our fathers, our brothers are our companions, and we 
are at home to stay, thank God !" 



41 6 American History 

the resignation of Secretary Stanton from his cabinet, which 
resignation Stanton had refused to give. 

Johnson ignored the Act of Congress and attempted to dis- 
miss Stanton from ofhce. Congress thereupon impeached 
Impeachment ^^^ President for violating the Constitution, and 
of President for not upholding the laws as he had sworn to 
Jo son ^^ -^ j^ig ^^^j^ ^£ Qf^f^Q 'pj^g Senate tries all 

cases of impeachment, and the Chief Justice presides at 
the trial. It requires a two-thirds vote of all the senators 
to convict. The trial of President Johnson lasted nearly 
two months (1868), and the whole country looked on with 
deep interest. The ablest lawyers defended him, and the 
ablest senators opposed him. 

The day the vote was counted the galleries were packed 
with people. Every senator, as the roll was called, stood in 
his place and voted. As the roll call proceeded the silence 
was intense. At the end it was found that the President 
was acquitted by one vote. Thereupon, Secretary Stanton 
resigned his ofhce. 

It was during Johnson's administration (1867) that Alaska 
was purchased from Russia for $7,200,000. At that time 
Purchase of it was supposed to be only a dreary, ice-locked, 
Alaska mountainous region, fit only for seals and bears. 

Several congressmen openly opposed the purchase, saying: 
" What can we do with that refrigerator? " We have since 
found that Alaska has wonderful mines of gold, and that 
the seal fisheries alone are worth far more than the land 
cost us. 

The boundary line between Alaska and the British pos- 
sessions remained uncertain for a number of years after the 
purchase. When gold was discovered in the Klondike region 
it became necessary to definitely establish the correct bound- 



Reconstruction and Expansion 417 

ary. The United States and Great Britain submitted the 
matter to a commission, which in 1903 estabhshed the bound- 
aries. This Hne was accepted by both governments. 

2. CONDITIONS IN THE SOUTH AFTER THE WAR 

The first few years after the war are known as the " Re- 
construction Period." In the North business went on as 
before ; in the South people had to face new conditions. The 
soldier returning home in the South found the slaves free 
and consequently all labor uncertain and disorganized. In 
many places, houses, barns, and fences had been burned, 
and the stock killed. Everywhere conditions were changed, 
and in addition to all this, Confederate money and securities 
were worthless. 

However, the Southern people set to work to make a harvest 
and to build up a newer and better state of things upon the 
ruins of their old labor system. 

The negroes were no longer slaves who had to work ; they 
were now free to work or not, as they chose. Most of them 
stayed on the farms and worked for wages. The negroes 
There were some, however, who wandered idly after the 
from place to place, and became a menace to the "^^^ 
peace of the country. Soon they had no money, no food, 
and nobody to care for them. Some of them became vicious, 
and even thought they could take by force what they needed. 

To protect themselves against these idle and lawless negroes, 
who were often led away by evil white men, a secret order 
known as the " Ku-Klux Klan " was formed by The Ku- 
the white people of the South. Its members met ^"^ ^^^ 
in the woods or on the outskirts of the town. They 
wore masks and hideous disguises, and had a password 
and secret signs. Whenever a bad negro or white man began 



41 8 American History 

to give trouble a sign was nailed on his door, or a note was 
sent to him, ordering him to leave the community or suffer 
the consequences. 

The " Ku-Klux " riders were a great terror to the 
negroes. Whenever they appeared, the frightened blacks 
scurried to their cabins. The threats of this organization 
held the negroes in check, kept them in their houses, forced 
the evil ones to behave, and made the idle ones work. 

The general government took a hand in this state of affairs. 
The " Freedmen's Bureau " was established. Its purpose 
The Freed- was to aid negroes in purchasing lands, to teach 
men's Bureau them the duties of citizenship, to make them 
work, to protect them in their contracts, and to provide 
hospitals for the sick and helpless. Schools were estab- 
lished and teachers employed to teach the negroes to read' 
and write. There was a general desire on the part of right- 
thinking people everywhere to help the South bear the bur- 
den of the negro population, demoralized and helpless in its 
new-found freedom. 

But there were evil influences at work at the same time. 
Unfortunately, there came into the South many adventurers 
The carpet- who saw their chance to make money and get 
baggers [^^q ofhce by deluding the negroes. They were 

called '' carpet-baggers," because it was said they carried 
all they had in a carpet-bag. They stirred up the negroes 
to assert their supposed rights, to get into office, and to make 
all they could out of the situation. 

Not all the people who came South were carpet-baggers, 
but there were many who came as such, and they made 
conditions all the more difhcult. At a time when the laws 
excluded many white men from voting and holding office, 
the negroes were organized into political clubs, and many of 



Reconstruction and Expansion 419 

them, as well as many of the carpet-baggers themselves, were 
elected to high offices. 

Negroes who a few years before had been field hands, 
and who were unable to read or write, now became judges, 
legislators, and justices of the peace. Every The rule of 
legislature in the South had negro members, the carpet- 
and in some States they outnumbered the white ^^^gers 
members. Old laws were repealed and new ones, calling for 
the expenditure of large sums of money, were passed. It 
was a carnival of plunder. Taxes were doubled, while prop- 
erty fell off rapidly in value. 

For a number of years this state of misrule and disorder 
continued. The negroes were influenced by bad white men, 
and, being ignorant, went into excesses, hardly knowing 
what harm they were doing. 

Probably the most notable of the reconstruction excesses 
was the condition in South Carolina when the carpet-baggers 
and the negroes had possession of the legislature, conditions 
In four years the State debt was increased from in South 
five to eighteen milHon dollars. The taxes in- ^^^ ^^ 
creased from half a million to two million dollars. The leg- 
islators fitted up the halls with clocks that cost six hundred dol- 
lars apiece ; with spittoons at eight dollars each ; with sofas at 
two hundred dollars each ; with desks at one hundred and 
seventy-five dollars each ; with mirrors at six hundred dollars 
each. In four years two hundred thousand dollars were 
spent for furniture, and over one hundred thousand dollars 
were spent in maintaining a bar and restaurant. Similar 
conditions prevailed everywhere else in the South. 

It has taken many years and much patience to bring order 
out of this condition. The negroes are being educated in 
the pubHc and private schools of the South, and in many 



420 American History 

splendid academies and industrial colleges and institutes 
adapted to their needs. They have shown an exceeding 
eagerness for education, and are willing to endure many hard- 
ships for the advantage to be derived from attending school. 
As a race they have become hard-working and orderly citi- 
zens. They have learned not to expect social equality with 
white people, but have formed a society of their own and 
recognize the fact that their, future is chiefly in their own 
hands. They have all the liberty they need to work in any 
position for which they are fitted. They have the pro- 
tection of the laws, the good- will of their former masters, and 
the help of all people everywhere to make of themselves an 
independent, orderly, and respected race. 

3. THE RECONSTRUCTED NATION 

In 1869 General U. S. Grant was inaugurated President. 
In his letter of acceptance of the nomination as a candidate, 
General ^^ said: "Let us have peace!" It was his 

Grant, desire, as it was of all good people, that the 

Presi ent nation should recover, as rapidly as possible, 
from the ravages of war. He was in office for two terms 
— a period of eight years. 

During his first term the Fifteenth Amendment to the 
Constitution was proposed by Congress and accepted by all 
the States, and the reconstruction of the Southern States 
was completed, as we have already learned. The Alabama 
claims were also settled, of which we studied in a former 
lesson (see page 379). 

In October, 1871 , the city of Chicago was almost 

destroyed by fire. For two days the fire raged, 

burning an area of nearly five square miles. About thirty 

thousand buildings were burned; one hundred thousand 



Reconstruction and Expansion 421 

people were made homeless, and two hundred milKon dollars' 
worth of property was destroyed. Chicago is a great and 
brave city, however, and the fires had not ceased burning 
before the work of rebuilding began. 

During the same year great forest fires raged in the 
Northwest. Entire villages were swept away, and hundreds 
of lives were lost. In November, 1872, a de- 

r 1 • -I-. Ti *- 111 Boston fire 

structive nre occurred m Boston. Many blocks 

of business houses were burned and eighty million dollars' 

worth of property was lost. 

To these losses by fire were added the losses by wild 
speculation and reckless enterprises. Great railroads were 
building in the West, and many people were in- Panic of 
vesting in rash undertakings, hoping to get rich ^^73 
quickly. The result is always the same. A large bank- 
ing house in Philadelphia failed ; a panic ensued in 1873 
that brought ruin to thousands of business houses, and loss 
of employment to hundreds of thousands of workmen. 

It was an era of fraud as well as of speculation. During 
President Grant's second term it was discovered that a num- 
ber of officials in the revenue service had been xhe Whisky 
bribed by the manufacturers of whisky, or the ^^^8 
" Whisky Ring," to defraud the government. Together 
they had cheated the government out of four million dollars. 
Grant said with the directness of a soldier, " Let no guilty 
man escape." Over two hundred persons were convicted 
and punished. 

Other frauds were unearthed. Several members of Con- 
gress were accused of accepting bribes from railway com- 
panies for their influence in securing favorable legislation. 
Large blocks of stock were placed '' where they would do the 
most good." Great frauds were discovered in the conduct 



422 American History 

of the city government of New York. The guilty parties 
were all brought to trial and received their just punishment. 

The money question demanded consideration. The war 
had cost large sums, and a great deal of paper money was 
Resumption ^^ circulation. In order to make the paper 
of specie money of any value, its payment in gold or 

payments silver had to be guaranteed by the government. 
Many laws were passed by Congress to meet the situation, 
the most notable of which was the one of 1875, which de- 
clared that all paper money should be redeemed in specie 
— that is, in gold or silver — when presented at the treasury 
for that purpose. 

This law went into effect in 1879, and was known as " the 
resumption of specie payments." Its effect was to make 
paper money as good as gold or silver. 

At the close of Grant's administration (1876) a Centennial 
Exposition was held in Philadelphia. It was designed to 
Centennial celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of the 
Exposition independence of the United States. Every 
State in the Union, and forty-three countries of the Old 
World, contributed to make the Fair a magnificent dis- 
play of the products of field and factory. Millions of visitors 
viewed the exhibits. It was a convincing evidence that 
peace and prosperity had returned to the nation. 

In this year (1876) Colorado was admitted to the Union. 
It is called the " Centennial State." 

At the close of President Grant's term of office the Re- 
publican party nominated Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, 
Hayes and and the Democratic party nominated Samuel J. 
TUden Tilden, of New York, as candidates for Presi- 

dent. The Democrats had great hopes of carrying the 
election, since they had gained largely in the recent elec- 



Reconstruction and Expansion 423 

tions for Congress and were now in control of most of the 
Southern States. 

The election was an exciting one and the result was 
doubtful. Disputes arose over the votes in South Carolina, 
Florida, and Louisiana, which States were still under the 
control of the '' carpet-bag " governments. The vote of 
Oregon was also in dispute. As a result both the Republi- 
cans and the Democrats in these States sent returns to Con- 
gress, each side claiming the victory. 

In Congress, the House of Representatives was Demo- 
cratic and the Senate was Republican. Naturally, they 
were unable to agree about these returns. To The Electoral 
settle the dispute an Electoral Commission Commission 
was appointed by Congress, consisting of five members of 
the House, live members of the Senate, and five Justices 
of the Supreme Court. Of this Commission eight were 
Republicans and seven were Democrats. 

After investigation, the Commission, by a majority of 
one vote, declared the Republicans had won in each State 
where there was a dispute. Congress then announced that 
Hayes had been elected President for the next four years. 
He was duly inaugurated March 4, 1877. 

One of the first acts of President Hayes was to withdraw 
all Federal troops from the States of South Carolina and 
Louisiana. In each of these States soldiers had withdrawal 
been used to uphold the Republican government, °^ troops 
but with the withdrawal of all Federal troops from the South, 
the rule of the carpet-bagger came to an end, and the white 
people took charge of the State government. As a result, 
the Republican governments in the South collapsed, and 
that section of the country became the '^ Solid South " for 
Democratic rule. 



424 American History 

In the summer of 1877 great railroad strikes occurred in 
the Middle and Western States. The coal miners of Penn- 
sylvania joined in the strikes. One hundred and fifty thou- 
sand men stopped work. Idleness breeds mischief, and soon 
strikes and the strikers in Pittsburgh began to plunder the 
"°*^ freight cars and set fire to the machine shops. 

As much as ten million dollars' worth of property was de- 
stroyed. President Hayes finally sent troops to quell the 
riots and restore order. 

After four years of office President Hayes was succeeded by 
James A. Garfield, of Ohio, in 1881. Hardly had he begun 
Assassination administration when, in July, standing in the 
of Garfield railway station at Washington, he was shot by 
an assassin who had followed him for months with deadly 
purpose. In two months he died of his wounds, and Chester 
A. Arthur, the Vice-President, took the oath of office and 
became the head of the government. 

4. REFORMS AND IMPROVEMENTS 

Up to this time 'it had been the custom of Presidents to 
reward their friends by giving them offices under the gov- 
ernment. The number of office-holders had increased rapidly 
until nearly one hundred and fifty thousand persons were 
employed by the government. Many changes occurred 
with each new administration, greatly to the injury of public 
business. 

It was quite evident that it was bad policy to make so 
many changes, and besides it laid a heavy burden of responsi- 
bility upon each' incoming President. In fact. President 
Garfield had been assassinated by a disappointed office 
seeker. 

To cure these evils and abuses. Congress, in 1883, passed 



Reconstruction and Expansion 425 

the Civil Service Reform Act. This Act created a Civil 
Service Commission, whose duty it is to examine all apph- 
cants for ofhce and see that they are competent, civii service 
The Act at first applied to a few positions only, reform 
but it has been extended from time to time until now nearly 
all the minor positions under the government are subject 
to its rules. Instead of having thousands of changes when 
a new President comes into office, only a few important 
ones are made. Worthy servants of the government have 
found that a position can be secured only by a strict examina- 
tion, and retained only by faithful service. 

The four years of President Arthur's administration were 
years of good feeling. Postage was reduced in 1883 from 
three cents to two cents on ordinary letters. Two-cent 
Whereas it once cost twenty-five cents to carry postage 
a letter a short distance, a letter is now carried across the 
continent, and even across the ocean, for two cents. 

The railroads adopted " Standard time" in 1883, dividing 
the country into sections of fifteen degrees of longitude, 
which means an hour's difference in time in standard 
each section. When it is twelve o'clock in the *^® 
New York division it is eleven in the Chicago division, ten 
in the Salt Lake division, and nine in the San Francisco 
division. 

Since 1861 all the Presidents had been elected by the 
Republican party ; but dissatisfaction with the tariff had been 
steadily increasing, and the Democrats stood for q^^^qj. 
tariff reform. In the general election of 1884 the Cleveland, 
Democratic party was triumphant, and in March, 
1885, Grover Cleveland, of New York, was inaugurated 
President. He was the first Democratic President in twenty- 
four years. 



426 



American History 



Shortly after his inauguration, Vice-President Thomas A. 
Hendricks, of Indiana, died. Congress saw the necessity of 




Grover Cleveland 

providing a new law for the succession to the Presidency 
in case of the death of both President and Vice-President, in 
The Presiden- order to keep the head of the government of 
tiai succession ^]-^g same political party as the one who had 
been elected. In 1886 a bill was passed providing that the 
succession should go to the members of the cabinet in order, 



Reconstruction and Expansion 427 

beginning with the Secretary of State. Since the President 
appoints the members of the cabinet they will almost cer- 
tainly be of his political party. 

In the same year the statue of " Liberty Enlightening the 
World" was unveiled on Bedloe's Island, New York Harbor. 
It was the gift of the people of France to the statue of 
people of the United States, and was a grateful Liberty 
recognition of the affection that the American people had 
for Lafayette. As ships enter the noble harbor of our great 




Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor 

Atlantic port, this majestic statue greets them with up- 
lifted hand, as if welcoming all who come to the Land of 
Liberty. 

Among the acts of Cleveland's administration was the 
establishment of the Interstate Commerce Commission, 
in 1887. The purpose of this Act was to regu- interstate 
late passenger and freight rates between States. Commerce 
It sought to avoid unfair discrimination by the Commission 
railroads between different persons and different places. 



428 American History- 

Congress also tried to keep crowds of Chinese laborers 

from coming to. our shores. They were arriving by the 

thousand, and offering their labor cheaper than 

°®!® Americans could afford to offer theirs. It was 

ezclusion 

said that a Chinaman could live on what an Ameri- 
can would throw away. In 1888 a bill was passed excluding 
Chinese immigrants; but it has been very dijfficult to en- 
force, since the shrewd Oriental now lands in Canada and 
easily finds his way across the border. 

August 31, 1886, the people of the city of Charleston, 
South Carolina, were aroused by terrible shocks of an earth- 
quake. Houses were thrown down, railroad 
earth ^uak^ tracks were twisted into all sorts of shapes, and 
from cracks in the earth oozed soft mud of a pe- 
cuKar color. The panic-stricken people sought refuge in the 
parks and fields, and for days many could not be induced 
to return to their houses. Many lives were lost, and much 
damage to property was sustained. The shocks were felt 
for hundreds of miles in all directions, but elsewhere they 
were not so severe as in Charleston. 

Twenty years had passed since the war, and about half of 
the war debt had been paid. The government was accumu- 
lating more money by the tariff laws than appeared neces- 
sary. A large surplus was on hand. The country was 
divided as to whether the tariff should be reduced or the 
surplus spent in public improvements and in education. 
President Cleveland, following the history of the Demo- 
cratic party, sent a message to Congress ad- 
pr^o^oseT^'"'" vocating the reduction of the tariff, making it 
less of a protective tariff and more nearly a 
tariff for revenue. The manufacturers opposed the measure 
strongly. The Senate rejected a bill introduced for that 



Reconstruction and Expansion 429 

purpose. It now became an issue in the next Presidential 
campaign. 

Cleveland was the nominee of his party. Benjamin 
Harrison, of Indiana, was the candidate of the Republican 
party. The election was entirely along the lines of tariff 
reform. Cleveland was defeated, and in 1889 Harrison was 
inaugurated President. 

President Harrison held office for four years, from 1889 
to 1893. At the beginning of his administration a great 
Pan-American Congress was held in Washington, Pan-American 
composed of delegates from the United States, Congress 
Mexico, Central America, and most of the repubUcs of 
South America. The purpose of this Congress was to con- 
sider matters that concerned the independent American 
governments. 

The most important result of the Congress was an agree- 
ment that all disputes between these governments should be 
settled by arbitration and not by war. This was a great 
advance in civilization. It is to be hoped that all nations 
will finally agree to this method of setthng their differences. 

In 1890 Congress passed the McKinley Tariff Bill. This 
law provided among other things that articles in the free 
list should be taxed, if the countries from which McKinley 
they came laid duties on products of the same Tariff BiU 
kind exported from our country. This provision was known 
as the '.* Reciprocity Agreement." 

About this time there arose another party known as " The 
People's Party." It was in favor of the free and unlimited 
coinage of silver, an income tax, the government ownership 
of railroads and telegraph lines, and was opposed to State 
banks. 

After Harrison's term of office expired he was defeated 



430 



American History 



The World's 

Columbian 

Exposition 



by Grover Cleveland, who for the second time became the 

Grover Democratic President. Cleveland was inaugu- 

cieveiand, rated in 1893. During his second term the tariff 
resi ent ^^^ again revised by what was known as the 

" Wilson Bill," which greatly reduced the duties on imports. 
The country turned aside from political affairs 
for a while to celebrate the four-hundredth anni- 
versary of the discovery of America by a World's 

Fair, held in Chicago in 1893. Congress appropriated ten 

million dollars, and 
Chicago spent large 
sums to make the 
Fair a success. It 
was a wonderful dis- 
play of mighty indus- 
tries. The ''White 
City" covered many 
acres. The buildings 
were daily thronged 
with thousands of de- 
lighted people. By 
night the grounds 
glowed with thou- 
sands of electric lights. 
It will ever remain in 
memory as one of the 
greatest exhibitions 
that the world has 
ever known. 
The tariff and the money question again became the 

political issues. The country as usual was divided on both. 

The great issue was between the gold standard only, or a 




William McKinley 



Reconstruction and Expansion 431 

free and unlimited coinage of silver as well. The Republi- 
cans advocated a high tariff and the gold standard only. 
In 1896 Wilham McKinley, of Ohio, the Re- William 
publican candidate, was elected over William J. McKiniey, 
Bryan, the standard bearer of the Democrats. ^'^®^^^®^* 

5. THE WAR WITH SPAIN 

The island of Cuba had belonged to Spain for many years, 
but its people had been so oppressed by harsh laws that 
they had frequently risen in rebelhon. In 1895 Rebellion 
a very determined insurrection began. " Free in Cuba 
Cuba" was the cry of the inhabitants. Spain resolved 
to put down the insurgents with a harsh and vigorous policy, 
and a large army was sent over under Spanish officers who 
treated the Cubans with great cruelty. 

Houses and growing crops were destroyed. The Cubans 
who were not engaged in the rebellion were penned up in 
filthy camps, where thousands died of starvation and disease. 
The condition of Cuba was pitiable. The Spanish general, 
Weyler, became known as '^ The Butcher." 

President McKiniey, of the United States, demanded the 
release of all Americans who had been made prisoners, and 
requested Spain promptly to relieve the distressing condi- 
tion of the people of Cuba. The general demand was that 
Spain should at once end the rebellion in a humane way, else 
the United States would take the part of the Cubans. 

February 15, 1898, the battleship Maine, in the harbor 
of Havana, on a peaceable mission, was blown up by an 
explosion, and nearly three hundred of the crew destruction 
were killed. It was not proved that this was of the 
done by Spanish agents, but it was generally "'"^ 
suspected that they were responsible for the disaster. 



432 



American History 



President McKinley saw that the time had come for the 
United States to act. In April he sent a message to Con- 
Warwith gress, saying : " In the name of humanity, in the 

Spain name of civihzation, in behalf of endangered 

ecare American interests, the war in Cuba must stop !" 

Shortly afterwards war was declared against Spain and the 
country was put on a war footing. The President called 




The Battleship "Maine" Lying in Havana Harbor 



for one hundred and twenty-five thousand volunteer sol- 
diers. The response was immediate. From North, South, 
East, and West came hosts of applications to enhst for the 
war. Camps were organized, supplies made ready, .officers 
appointed, and a vigorous campaign against Spain was 
planned. General Joseph Wheeler and General Fitz-Hugh 



Reconstruction and Expansion 433 



i 



Lee, who had been gallant Confederate leaders, were among 
those made Major-Generals. 

Captain Sampson and Commodore Schley were sent to 
blockade the Cuban harbors, and Commodore George Dewey, 
who was in command of the American fleet at Hong Kong, 
was ordered to find the Spanish fleet at the Philippine 
Islands and destroy it. 

On the night of April 30, 1898, the squadron under Dewey 
moved into Manila Bay. All lights were out, and the shore 
batteries of the enemy did not discover the pass- Battle of 
ing ships. The men slept by their guns. When Manila Bay 
day dawned they awoke with the Spanish fleet in sight, and 
raised the cry : "Remember 
the MaineT^ '' % 

The battle began early, 
and continued two hours. 
Then the Americans stopped 
firing, ate breakfast, and 
started again. In another 
hour and a quarter the 
battle was over. Eleven 
Spanish vessels and one 
transport were destroyed, 
and many of the enemy 
were killed. Not a single 
American was lost, and only 
eight were wounded. The 

Spaniards were no match for the Americans. Their ships 
were inferior, their guns were poor, and they could not fire 
with accuracy. It was a great naval victory, and ended the 
war in the East. 

One of the notable occurrences of the time was the voy- 




CoMMODORE George Dewey 



434 



American History 



age of the battleship Oregon from San Francisco around 
Cape Horn to Key West. The long voyage was begun soon 
Voyage of after the destruction of the Maine. For two 
the Oregon months the commander kept on his course, ap- 
prehensive of attack by the Spanish fleet. The vessel reached 
its destination safely, however, amid the plaudits of the nation. 
In the meantime Admiral Cervera, the Spanish com- 
mander, had left the Cape Verde Islands, with a fleet of 




T I 



E A N 



Sainana Bay 






<B ST.^THOMAS 



Kingston 



''PuRTO RICO 

SEA 






The West Indies 



war vessels, and had taken refuge in the harbor of Santiago 
de Cuba. After the discovery of the presence of the Spanish 
fleet, the combined fleets of Sampson and Schley blockaded 
the harbor closely. 

Sampson conceived the plan of sinking a vessel across the 
channel of the harbor of Santiago so that the enemy's ships 
Exploit of could not get out. Lieutenant Richmond P. 

Hobson undertook the task. One morning he, 
with a few companions, took a coal ship named the 
Merrimac up the harbor, and in the full blaze of the enemy's 
guns, and in spite of the danger from the explosives with 
which the harbor was lined, sank the ship. Unfortunately 
the fire of the enemy's guns had disabled the steering gear 



Lieut. Hob 
son 



Reconstruction and Expansion 435 

of the Merrimac, so that she was not sunk in a place that 
seriously obstructed the harbor. 

Hobson and his men escaped on rafts to the nearest Span- 
ish vessels and gave themselves up as prisoners of war. They 
were courteously treated by the Spanish commander, and 
word was sent to Sampson that they were safe. 

To attack Santiago from the rear, Major-General William 
R. Shafter landed on the southern coast of Cuba and with 
sixteen thousand men marched up the hills of El EiCaneyand 
Caney and San Juan. The Americans charged Sanjuan, 
the hills, singing patriotic songs as they advanced. ^^^^ ^' ^^^^ 
The assault was desperate, but the forts were carried with 
but little loss of life. Conspicuous among the leaders was 
Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, with the " Rough Riders," of 
whom he was in command. 

Santiago was doomed, and Cervera's fleet was in danger. 
On July 3 he made a dash for liberty. The American ships 
were in waiting, and as the Spanish vessels slipped out they 
were pursued and easily destroyed. Six hundred Spaniards 
were killed or drowned and Cervera made prisoner. The 
American loss was one killed. Santiago soon surrendered, 
and the war was over. It had lasted about three months. 

A treaty of peace was signed at Paris, December 10, 1898, 
by which Spain agreed to evacuate the island of Cuba, sur- 
render the islands of Porto Rico and the Philip- Treaty of 
pines to the United States, and also the island p®^^® 
of Guam in the Pacific Ocean. The United States agreed 
to pay Spain the sum of twenty million dollars. 

One result of this war was to make the nation forget its 
past differences in the face of a common enemy. Soldiers 
and officers from the North and South fought side by side. 
Then, the way the soldiers suffered for food and medicine 



436 American History 

showed that it was as important to protect men in the camp 
as it was to arm them for the battle. ^For every man killed 
Results of in battle in the Spanish War there were nine who 
the war (jjg^j from disease in the hospitals. 

Hawaii had already been annexed to the United States 
in 1898, and now that the Philippines had come into its pos- 
Territoriai session there arose a new sentiment among the 
expansion people in favor of territorial expansion. Like 
other nations, the United States undertook to have pos- 
sessions in distant parts of the world. ^ 

The exploits of our battleships raised us to the rank of a 
first-class power, and showed to the world that hereafter in 
the settlement of questions in which great nations were 
involved, the United States was a power that had to be 
reckoned with. 

The treaty of peace with Spain had hardly been signed 
before the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands rose against 

^ The Hawaiian Islands were annexed to the United States in 1898. They 
are the most important group in the mid-Pacific. The twelve islands have a 
population of over one hundred thousand people, many of whom are Americans. 
The harbor of Honolulu affords a splendid station for coal and supplies for war 
vessels crossing the ocean. 

The Philippines consist of many hundreds of islands, most of which are very 
small, and some are without names. The population numbers about eight 
million, of which about thirty thousand were Europeans at the time of the 
cession of the islands to the United States. Luzon is the largest island, on 
which is situated Manila, the chief city, with a population of about a quarter 
of a million. The islands produce tobacco, sugar, hemp, coffee, and rice. 

Porto Rico in the West Indies has nearly one million people, mostly negroes. 
Guam, which is the principal island in the Ladrone group, has only about ten 
thousand people, mostly settlers from the Philippines. The island is small, 
probably not more than one hundred miles in circumference. The United 
States also owns Wake Island, on the direct route from Hawaii to Hong Kong. 
In 1899, by treaty with Great Britain and Germany, the United States came 
into control of one of the islands in the Samoan group. In case of war all these 
possessions afford excellent harbors and coaling stations for our naval forces. 



Reconstruction and Expansion 437 



the United States, declaring that they wanted independence 
— not a new master. 

The insurgents were led by a young native named Agui- 
naldo. The war soon assumed the nature of guerrilla war- 
fare, very annoying and distressing to the Ameri- warinthe 
can troops. President McKinley increased the PhUippines 
army in the Philippines to sixty-five thousand men. Hun- 
dreds of small battles were fought. The American soldiers 
had no difficulty in de- 
feating the poorly armed 
natives, whenever and 
wherever small bodies of 
them could be found, but 
the hot climate, malarial 
swamps, and dense jun- 
gles brought much hard- 
ship and great distress to 
our troops. 

The war was finally 
brought to a close by the 
capture of Aguinaldo in 
March, 1901. He took 
the oath of allegiance 
to the United States and advised his countrymen to do the 
same. By the close of the year over seven hundred of the 
Philippine towns had accepted civil government, and the 
insurrection came to an end. 

In the meantime President McKinley had appointed a 
civil commission to aid the army in the govern- Government 
ment of the islands. In July, 1901, a civil gov- of the 




The Philippine Islands 



ernment was established, under whose adminis- 



Philippines 



tration the islands have been much improved. New roads 



43 8 American History 

have been built, wise laws have been made for the towns, 
schools have been established, and many American teachers 
have been sent out to teach the natives. 

The question of the disposition of Cuba now arose. We 
were pledged to the independence of that island, but it was 
Cuba a free evident that the natives were not yet prepared for 
and independ- self-government. The War Department took 
ent nation temporary possession of Cuba. A commission, 
composed of American and Cuban citizens, was appointed to 
improve the laws, to organize city governments, to establish 
schools, to provide for taxation, and to prepare the people 
for independence. 

In February, 1901, a constitution was adopted by the 
Cubans, and a president was elected. In May, 1902, the 
Cuban Republic was organized, the administration of the 
affairs of the island was turned over to President Palma, 
and Cuba was left to govern itself as an independent nation. 

Across the ocean two events happened at the end of the 
century, both of which are of interest to Americans. One 
The Hague was the Peace Conference, of delegates from all 
Tribunal nations, held at The Hague, in Holland, at the 

suggestion of the Czar of Russia. The first conference began 
in May, 1899. The Hague Tribunal was organized in the 
interest of peace the world over. To this tribunal were to 
be referred certain kinds of disputes between civilized na- 
tions, in order to avoid war and bloodshed. 

The other event was the great uprising in China in 1900, 
on the part of a secret society known as the Boxers. Their 
The Boxer purpose was to drive all foreigners out of the 
uprising country. The foreigners were shut up in Peking 

and fiercely attacked by the Chinese insurgents. Several 
nations promptly sent armies to their rescue. American 



Reconstruction and Expansion 439 

troops were dispatched from Manila. Peking was besieged 
and stormed by the alHed armies, and the besieged ministers 
and foreigners set free. The Chinese government had to 
pay heavy damages for the loss of life and property. This 
event is known as the " Boxer Uprising." 

Thus we see the United States establishing a firm gov- 
ernment at home, expanding its territory and influence, 
and taking rank as one of the great powers of the world. 

6. RECENT POLITICAL EVENTS 

In 1900 President McKinley was a candidate of the Repub- 
Hcan party for reelection. Opposed to him was Wilham J. 
Bryan, the nominee of the Democratic party. The Republi- 
cans were victorious, and McKinley was reelected for another 
term. 

A few months after he had been inaugurated he attended 
the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo. He had made a 
speech full of patriotism and good will, and was Assassination 
shaking hands with the people when he was shot of McKinley 
by an assassin, who held a revolver concealed by a handker- 
chief in his hand. September 14, 1901, McKinley died, the 
third martyr-President, loved and honored as the others had 
been. 

On the day of McKinley's death, Theodore Roosevelt, of 
New York, the Vice-President, took the oath of office and 
became the head of the nation. The new xheodore 
President had already attracted attention for Roosevelt, 
his vigorous policies as a public official in his ^^^^^ ®^* 
own State and in Washington, and as a soldier in Cuba. 
He entered heartily into all great American enterprises, had 
definite opinions on all subjects, and undertook the duties 
of his office with independence and zeal. 



440 



American History 



In the summer of 1902 occurred the great strike of the 
miners in the anthracite regions of Pennsylvania. Nearly 
strike in One hundred and fifty thousand workmen were 

Pennsylvania involved. The Strike lasted five months, dur- 
ing which period the 
mines were closed, 
manufactories had 
to stop, and a coal 
famine existed that 
brought great distress 
to the people. Presi- 
dent Roosevelt inter- 
posed with a sugges- 
tion that the claims 
of the miners be sub- 
mitted to arbitration. 
This was done, and 
after an exhaustive in- 
vestigation an agree- 
ment was reached that 
was accepted by all 
parties concerned. 

A great war between 
Russia and Japan oc- 
cupied the attention of the world during the administration 
of President Roosevelt. After many months of warfare, 
Treaty of many desperate battles, and great loss of life 

Portsmouth ^^(^ property on both sides. President Roose- 
velt offered his services as peacemaker between the two 
countries. At his suggestion a conference was held by the 
representatives of both nations at Portsmouth, New Hamp- 
shire, and a treaty of peace was signed that ended the war. 




Theodore Roosevelt 



Reconstruction and Expansion 441 

In the election for President in 1908, William H. Taft, of 
Ohio, the Republican candidate, was chosen over William J. 
Bryan, who was again the nominee of the Democratic party. 




William H. Taft 

In 1912 Woodrow Wilson, the candidate of the Democratic 
party, was elected President, defeating both William H. 
Taft, Republican, and Theodore Roosevelt, Progressive. He 
was reelected in 1916 over Charles E. Hughes, of New 
York. 



442 American History 

Upon assuming office in 19 13 President Wilson called Con- 
gress into extra session for the enactment of a new tariff law. 
Important Substantial reductions were made in the rates on 
legislation guch articles as wool and woolen goods, cotton 
goods, agricultural products, sugar, farm implements, and 
many household necessities. These changes were designed 
to benefit the people at large and to reduce excessive profits 
of manufacturers. The loss in revenue to the government 
was offset by a tax on large incomes. 

The Federal Reserve Act of 19 13 established twelve regional 
banks under a Federal Reserve Board. These banks provide 
Federal Re- ^ flexible currency. When business needs more 
serve Act money, they issue reserve notes to meet the 

** ^^^^ demand. But when the need is past, these 

notes are retired so that business may not be injured by too 
much available money. The Federal Farm Loan Act of 
19 16 does for the farmer what the Reserve Act does for 
business. By providing long-time loans at a reasonable 
rate of interest it enables the farmer to borrow money for 
improvements which require a number of years to make 
them pay for themselves. 

In the Act regulating the Panama Canal there was a pro- 
vision of the law which exempted American vessels engaged 
Panama in coastwise trade from paying tolls. This 

Canal tolls exemption was held by Great Britain and by 
many of our own public men as a violation of our treaty 
with Great Britain. President Wilson secured the repeal 
other im- ^^ ^^^^ exemption clause in 1914. 
portant Other important legislation was that admitting 

egisa on foreign-built ships to American registry under 
certain conditions ; building a government railroad in Alaska ; 
authorizing the President to use the army and navy, if neces- 



Reconstruction and Expansion 443 




© Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 
WooDROW Wilson 



444 American History 

sary, for commercial reprisals against countries which dis- 
criminate against American commerce ; and an eight-hour 
working-day law for railway employees in interstate trans- 
portation. 

The most serious problems of President Wilson's Adminis- 
tration were to avoid entanglements with foreign nations in 
Troubles with their revolutions and wars. He was confronted 
Mexico immediately by the revolution in Mexico. He 

declined to recognize any of the revolutionary parties or 
leaders, preferring that Mexico should settle her own ques- 
tions. 

In 19 14 the Mexican authorities seized a number of Ameri- 
can sailors from a navy launch at Tampico. The sailors 
War with "Were promptly released, but the American admiral 
Mexico demanded that a salute to the American flag 

threatened ^j^^^j^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^ apology. This the 

Mexicans refused to do, and President Wilson ordered a 
concentration of naval forces in Mexican waters. Vera 
Cruz was seized, and war between the two countries be- 
came imminent. At this juncture the countries of Argentina, 
Brazil, and Chile offered to act as mediators in effecting a 
settlement between Mexico and the United States. Agree- 
ments were reached through their mediation, by which war 
was happily averted. 

The situation again became acute in 19 16 when a rebel 
leader named Villa with a band of outlaws made murderous 
Punishing raids upou the border towns of Texas and New 
the Mexican Mexico and threatened the lives and property 
marauders ^£ American citizens. President Wilson there- 
upon ordered an expeditionary force under General Pershing 
to enter Mexico for the purpose of pursuing and punish- 
ing the marauders. After many months and much anxiety 



Reconstruction and Expansion 445 

the American forces, by agreement, were withdrawn from 
Mexico. 

The growth of the sentiment in favor of prohibition has 
been rapid in late years. Many States passed local option 
laws by which any city or county in the State Growth of 
was allowed to exclude the sale of intoxicating prohibition 
liquors within its limits. From that method the s^^*^°^^°* 
resort to State- wide prohibition was rapid, especially in the 
South and West. By 19 18 more than half of the States had 
in force State- wide prohibitory liquor laws. 

The Prohibition party and the Anti-Saloon League of 
America began working for national prohibition. The out- 
break of the World War and the entrance of the United 
States into the struggle strengthened the position of the 
prohibitionists, since it was made a punishable offense to 
sell intoxicating liquors to soldiers or sailors. 

In 19 1 7 a resolution was passed by Congress submitting 
to the States an Amendment to the Constitution prohibit- 
ing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of ^j^^ 
intoxicating liquors anywhere in the United Eighteenth 
States, or in any territory subject to the juris- °i®^<i™®^t 
diction of the United States. In 1919 this proposed Amend- 
ment was ratified by more than three-fourths of the States and 
was declared to be a law of the land. In January, 1920, the 
country entered upon the condition of nation-wide prohibition. 

The movement for granting the right of suffrage to women 
has gained steadily in favor, especially during the last few 
years. As far back as 1647 Margaret Brent, of Maryland^ 
demanded but did not receive " place and voice " in the 
legislature of that State. It is said that the wife of John 
Adams told her husband, " if women are not represented in 
this new republic there will be another Revolution." 



446 American History 

In 1848 the first Woman's Rights Convention was held at 
Seneca Falls, N. Y., in which there was a strong demonstra- 
Woman's ^^^^ ^^ favor of giving women the right of the 
Rights Con- ballot. After the Civil War the cause was led 
vention ^^ Susan B. Anthony and later on by Dr. Anna 

Howard Shaw, both of whom spent a large part of their time 
addressing the public and sending out literature on the subject 
of the rights of women. 

Gradually the cause attracted attention and recognition. 
Women began to occupy positions in business, and in the pro- 
fessions, until at last nearly every occupation was open to 
them. The States, especially in the West, began to grant 
women the right to vote. By 19 19 there were twenty-nine 
States that granted Woman Suffrage, some States granting 
full privileges to vote, others the right with restriction. 

The advocates of suffrage for a number of years had been 
urging an Amendment to the Constitution allowing women to 
Woman's vote. Susan B. Anthony had prepared an Amend- 

Sufifrage ment which read, " The right of citizens of the 

Amendment United States to vote shall not be denied by 
the United States or by any State on account of sex." This 
Amendment has been called the " Susan B. Anthony 
Amendment." 

This Amendment was introduced into Congress in 1878. 
After debate and defeat for a number of years it was finally 
passed June 4, 1919, and submitted to the States for rati- 
fication. 

TOPICS 

Plans for Reconstruction. Andrew Johnson becomes President; 
his early life. The question of reconstruction ; Lincoln's plan. Procla- 
mation of pardon. The Thirteenth Amendment. The action of the 



Reconstruction and Expansion 447 

Southern States. The attitude of Congress. The Fourteenth Amend- 
ment ; what was required of the Southern States ; action of Tennessee. 
Johnson's quarrel with Congress. Mihtary command in the South. 
The Fifteenth Amendment. Tenure of Office Bill. Impeachment 
and trial of President Johnson ; the result. The purchase of Alaska. 

Conditions in the South after the War. What the returning Southern 
soldier found at home. The negroes after the war. The Ku-Klux 
Klan; the riders. The Freedman's Bureau; its purposes; schools 
for negroes. The carpet-baggers and their influence. The rule of the 
carpet-baggers. Conditions in South CaroHna. Negroes of today. 

The Reconstructed Nation. Grant becomes President. The burn- 
ing of Chicago; other destructiye fires. Speculation and panic of 1873. 
The Whisky Ring ; punishing the offenders. Other frauds and offenders. 
The resumption of specie payment. Centennial Exposition. Admis- 
sion of Colorado. Hayes and Tilden ; the Electoral Commission ; their 
award. Withdrawal of troops from South Carolina and Louisiana. 
Strikes and riots. Garfield becomes President ; his assassination and 
successor. 

Reforms and Improvements. Government employees and changes; 
Civil Service Reform Act ; its benefits. Two-cent postage. Standard 
time. Cleveland becomes President. Reforms in the law of Presi- 
dential succession. Statue of Liberty. Interstate Commerce Com- 
mission. Chinese exclusion. The Charleston earthquake. Revising 
the tariff. Harrison becomes President. Pan-American Congress; 
its result. McKinley Tariff Bill; its provisions. Cleveland becomes 
President a second time. The World's Fair. 

The War with Spain. Rebellion in Cuba ; policy of Spain ; harsh 
measures. Destruction of the Maine. War with Spain declared; 
preparation; dispatching the fleets. Battle of Manila Bay; result. 
Voyage of the Oregon. Blockade of Spanish fleet in Santiago de Cuba. 
Exploit of Hobson. Attacking Santiago from the rear. Cervera's 
dash for liberty; the result. Treaty of peace. Results of the war. 
Territorial expansion. War in the Philippines; its progress; its end. 
Improvement of the Philippines. Disposition of Cuba. The Hague 
Tribunal. The Boxer uprising. 

Recent Political Events. Assassination of McKinley. Theodore 
Roosevelt becomes President. Strike of the miners in Pennsylvania; 
how settled. War between Russia and Japan; how settled. WiUiam 



448 American History 

H. Taft. Woodrow Wilson. New tariff laws of 1913 ; income tax. 
Federal Reserve banks. Federal Farm Loan Act. Panama Canal 
legislation; other important legislation. The revolution in Mexico. 
How war with Mexico was averted. Progress of prohibition sentiment. 
The Prohibition Amendment to the Constitution. Woman suffrage. 

SUBJECTS FOR STUDY 

What is your opinion of the wisdom of the Fifteenth Amendment 
at the time it was made? Discuss the necessity and effect of the Ku- 
Klux Klan. Discuss the merits of the Civil Service Reform Act. Is 
it wise or unwise to exclude the Chinese from America ? Why was the 
war with Spain so short? Discuss the foolish policy of oppressive co- 
lonial measures.. 

COMPOSITION 

Write a description of a carpet-bagger and his supposed speeclji to a 
crowd of negroes. 

Suppose you were with Hobson in the sinking of the Merrimac, 
and write your experiences. 

MAP QUESTIONS 

Compare the size of Alaska with that of the United States. 

Locate Manila Bay. Locate Havana ; Santiago de Cuba ; the Ha- 
waiian Islands; Porto Rico; Guam; Wake Islands; The Samoan 
group. 

Collateral Reading. " The Centennial Hymn," by John G. Whittier. 



Chapter XIII 

ENTERPRISES, INVENTIONS, AND INDUSTRIES 

1. GREAT AMERICAN ENTERPRISES 

We have learned of the invention of the electric telegraph 
in 1837. By i860 every State in the Union and nearly 
all the nations of, the Old World were sending messages 
over the land. Morse had predicted that the time would 
come when electric messages would be sent across the ocean. 

Commodore Maury, who had studied the bottom of the 
ocean, suggested to Cyrus W. Field, of New York, that an 
electric cable could be laid along the tableland The Atlantic 
under the Atlantic Ocean and thus connect the ^^^^^ 
Old and the New World. In 1857 the first cable was started, 
but after three hundred miles had been laid at a cost of a 
half-milHon dollars, the cable parted. In 1858 Field suc- 
ceeded in laying a cable across the ocean ; and Queen Victoria, 
of England, and President Buchanan exchanged greetings. 

In about a month the cable ceased working, the Civil War 
came on, and nothing more was done until 1865. A cable was 
then laid halfway across the ocean, when it broke, and the 
cable was lost on the bottom of the sea. Field was not dis- 
mayed. When asked what he was going to do, he answered, 
" Go to work and lay another ! " 

A monster ship called the Great Eastern was used to carry 
the material for finding the lost cable. At length the lost 
cable was found, dragged by hooks from the bottom of the 
sea, the end spliced to another cable, and the work went on. 

449 



450 American History 

Slowly it was unwound over the ocean bed until, July 27, 1866, 
communication between the Old and the New World was 
established. It has not since been interrupted. Field had 
worked thirteen years and spent a great deal of money, but 
he had succeeded. 

More than a dozen cables now cross the Atlantic. Cables 
also cross the Pacific Ocean ; and telegraph lines stretch 
across all continents and into nearly all countries. Messages 
can be sent around the world in a few hours. Every morning 
the papers furnish us with an account of what has happened 
in every part of the world. 

Other great enterprises are worthy of note. The long 
suspension bridge over the East River, connecting New York 

and Brooklyn, was completed in 1883. It cost 
uspension nearly fifteen million dollars, is over a mile long, 

and took fourteen years to build. The towers 
at either end are three hundred feet high, and the cables 
are over a foot thick. Other bridges have since been built 
at even a greater cost, and of larger dimensions. 

The opening of the oil fields of Pennsylvania beginning in 
1859 is one of the great achievements of modern times. Oil 

wells were sunk, and the crude natural oil pumped 

Oil wells . , , . . . . ^^1 

out of the earth m immense quantities. Other 
oil fields were discovered in Ohio, Oklahoma, Cahfornia, and 
Texas, as well as in other States. There were also immense 
oil fields in Mexico. Companies have been formed to handle 
the product, refine it, and ship it to all parts of the 
world. 

At the present day there are over two hundred thousand 
oil wells in the United States, yielding nearly four hundred 
millions of barrels a year, or two-thirds the world's output 
of oil. There are thirty thousand miles of pipe lines, through 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 45 



which the crude oil 
is pumped from the 
wells to refineries 
or to the seaboard 
for shipment abroad. 
Over three hundred 
different products are 
obtained from crude 
oil, or petroleum as 
this is called, notably 
gasoline, kerosene, 
and lubricating and 
fuel oils. 

In the use of steel 
and iron for the con- 

Steeland struction 
iron con- of buildings, 
struction ^^'^^^^^^ ^^d 

ships, the great foun- 
dries of America are 
creating a world's in- 
dustry. In our large 
cities tall buildings 
with steel frames are 
being constructed of 
twenty to thirty 
stories and some of 
as many as forty to 
fifty stories, and all 
the way from three 
hundred to seven hun- 
dred feet in height. 




WooLWORTH Building 



452 American History 

These are called " skyscrapers," and are almost entirely 
American in their design and construction. 

The greatest achievement in New York skyscrapers is the 
Woolworth Building. It has 55 stories, and rises to a height 
of 793 feet. Its foundations go 130 feet in the ground. It is 
the tallest inhabited building in the world. 

In fact the enterprise of the people of America halts at no 
undertaking, no matter how great. The vast power of 
Niagara Falls is being converted by machinery into electric 
other enter- power and distributed to cities many miles dis- 
poses tant; underground railways and overhead rail- 
ways transport the people of our large cities to and from their 
business ; tunnels are being built under rivers and through 
mountains to gain a quicker connection between our cities ; 
railroads are crossing mountains and plains and penetrating 
forests to deyelop the great industries of the country. 

We have many wonderful things our grandfathers never 
dreamed of and would have laughed at if they had been 
suggested. Every day is adding comforts to our homes and 
conveniences to our business. 

The greatest enterprise which has claimed the attention 
of the American people in recent times has been the con- 
A Panama struction of the Panama Canal — a canal to save 
canal pro- ships sailing from ocean to ocean the long and 
^°^^^ expensive journey around Cape Horn. This vast 

undertaking was under consideration for more than fifty 
years. A treaty between England and the United States 
had been made before the Civil War, looking to the con- 
struction of an interoceanic canal, but its terms were not 
satisfactory and the project was allowed to drop. 

In 1 88 1 a French company undertook to build a canal 
across Panama. Great sums of money were spent, but 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 453 



^BiBBEAN ^^ 



after several years of work the company failed and all labor 
on the canal ceased. While the French were working at 
Panama, the United States was 
investigating the question of 
a canal at Nicaragua. There 
were many who favored the 
Nicaragua route, but the failure 
of the French company devel- 
oped the possibility of the 
United States purchasing their 
rights and continuing their 
work at Panama. 

The Panama route was con- 
sidered best. It is three hun- 
Thetwo ^^^^ miles farther 

routes com- from the United 
^^""^^ States, but it is 

only forty-nine miles in length. 
The Nicaragua route is one 
hundred and eighty-four miles 
in length, more than one hun- 
dred of which, however, is 
through Nicaragua Lake and 
San Juan River. 

In 1902 Congress authorized 
the purchase of the French inter- 
Treaty with est for $40,000,000, 
Colombia and and appropriated 

Panama $130,000,000 tO 

build the canal. A treaty was 
proposed to Colombia, by 

which the United States was The Panama Canal 




454 



American History 



to pay that country $10,000,000 for the right of way of the 
canal, and an annual rental of $250,000, beginning nine 
years later. Colombia wanted more money, however, and 
rejected the treaty. Whereupon Panama rose in rebellion, 
threw off the yoke of Colombia, and declared itself free. 

The United States promptly recognized the independence 
of Panama, and proceeded to protect the new republic and 




© Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 
A Warship Passing through the Panama Canal 



make a new treaty with its agents for the right to build a 
canal. Thi^ treaty was made in December, 1903. By its 
terms the United States paid $10,000,000 to Panama for the 
concession of a strip of territory ten miles wide across the 
isthmus, and also guaranteed the independence of Panama. 
The canal was completed under the direction of Colonel G. 
W. Goethals, of the U. S. A. Corps of Engineers, as Engineer- 
in-Chief . It is entirely under the control of the United States 
and is of great service to the commerce of the world. The 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 455 

distance by sea from New York to San Francisco has been 
reduced from 13,714 miles to 5299 miles. Ships going from 
Liverpool to San Francisco save 6000 miles. Through the 
saving in distance there is a great saving in time and expense 
to ship owners, and the risks of the journey round Cape Horn 
are largely eliminated. 

For many years various nations of the world had sent out 
expeditions to reach the North Pole. None of these attempts 
were successful, and many were attended with suffering and 
disaster. In the winter of 1908 Lieutenant Robert E. Peary, 
of the United States Navy, started on an expedition for the 
Pole with every provision against failure. 

His party landed in February, 1909, on the north coast 
of Greenland, and started overland on the five hundred mile 
journey to the Pole. For seven weeks the p 
intrepid explorers broke through ice and snow, reaches the 
many of the men abandoning the undertaking ^o^*^ ^o^® 
through fatigue and discouragement. Of the sixty-six who 
started only Peary and five companions reached the North 
Pole. Here, on April 6, 1909, the American flag was planted, 
and the greatest exploration of modern times was accom- 
plished. 

From the original thirteen States our country has grown 
to forty-eight States. The first census in 1790 showed about 
four millions of people. In one hundred and ten Growth of 
years, by the census of 1900, it had reached over population 
seventy-six millions. The United States with its territorial 
possessions had in 19 10 about one hundred and one million 
people; at the present day the population is not far from 
one hundred and ten million people. In the United States 
proper there are about thirty-five persons to every square 
mile. The center of population was, in 1790, twenty miles 



456 



American History 



east of Baltimore; but it has been moving westward steadily 
until now it is in the city of Bloomington, Indiana. 

The area of the United States is a little more than three 
million square miles, which is nearly as much as all Europe. 
Area of the We have twenty States each larger than England 
United states g^^d Wales. Texas alone is larger than France 
or Germany, and is four times as large as England and Wales. 
Leaving out Russia, the United States is three times as 



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Ships Carry American Products to Every Part of the World 



large as all the rest of Europe combined. It has been esti- 
mated that a steamboat may pass up the Mississippi and 
Missouri rivers a distance of nearly four thousand miles, 
or as far as from New York to Constantinople. 

The wealth of the people of the United States is not far 
from three hundred billion dollars. If evenly 
distributed, every inhabitant would have about 
three thousand dollars. This great wealth has been accumu- 
lated by our vast industries and commercial enterprises. It 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 457 

has been estimated that the United States has more wealth 
than Great Britain, France, and Italy combined. 

With one-fifteenth of the world's population, the United 
States produces one-fifth of the gold, two-fifths of the iron 
and steel, one-fourth of the wheat, one-half of the coal, two- 
thirds of the cotton, two-thirds of the oil, three-fourths of 
the corn, and nearly nine-tenths of the automobiles of the 
whole world. 

The productions of the United States are so great that each 
year we could furnish each individual in the world with two 
suits of cotton cloth, with one and a half bushels 

. .1 r 1 c . r ^ ' ^ Ptoduction 

of corn, with one-fourth of a ton of coal, with 
four gallons of oil, with a half bushel of wheat, with one- 
third of a pound of sugar, and thirty pounds of meat. 

It is not surprising then to find American products in every 
market of the world. Our locomotives are sold in China 
and Japan, our steel bridges and electric cars are found in 
Egypt, our knives, tools, sewing machines, typewriters, 
cash registers, firearms, automobiles, and a hundred other 
manufactured articles, may be found anywhere in the world. 

2. GREAT AMERICAN INVENTIONS AND INDUSTRIES 

America is a land of inventors. Eli Whitney gave the 
world the cotton gin ; Fulton perfected the steamboat ; 
Morse devised the electric telegraph ; McCormick con- 
structed the reaper ; Ericsson built an ironclad war vessel ; 
Howe invented the sewing machine ; Edison perfected the 
electric light and the electric car ; Bell invented the telephone. 

Other inventions are the sleeping car and the vestibule 
train, together with the air brake, that make travel com- 
fortable and safe; the revolving printing press, the type- 
writer, the cash register, the safety bicycle, and the passenger 



458 



American History 



elevator, that greatly facilitate business ; the compressed air 
drill, the improved loom, the Corliss engine, the refrigerator 
car, and the gas engine, that have helped to develop our 
industries. 

All inventions are patented in the Patent Office, at 
Washington, which, beginning in 1791, has, up to this time, 
issued over a million patents protecting all inventors from 




The Patent Office, Washington 



those who may try to reap the profits of the genius and 
labors of others. 

Among the greatest of American inventors is Thomas A. 
Edison. He began life as a newsboy on a passenger train. 
Thomas A. His fancy was early attracted to telegraphing. 
Edison Upon one occasion he saved the child of a telegraph 

operator from being run over by a train, and the operator in 
gratitude offered to teach Edison telegraphing. He gladly 
accepted the offer, and became a very rapid telegrapher. 

He soon became an electrical expert and devised a method 
by which many messages could be sent on one wire at the 
same time, thus saving the expense of many wires. He soon 
after invented the improved " stock ticker," which records 
in the office of the stock brokers the quotations of the market. 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 459 



Having accumulated some money, Edison moved to Menlo 
Park in New Jersey and began experiments and inventions on 
a large scale. In 1879 he announced that he could The electric 
furnish light from electricity. In fact, he had ^^eht 
eighty lights in the park near his home, but they were not 
very satisfactory. After much work he succeeded in ex- 
hausting the air 
from the electric 
globes, and the 
electric light as we 
now know it be- 
came a success. 
Cities and towns 
the world over may 
now be lighted by 
electricity. 

Edison turned 

his attention to the 

electric 

Electric cars 

car. His 
first experiment was 
on two miles of 
track at Menlo 
Park. In 1884 the 
first electric car was 
placed in use, and 
so rapidly have the 
cars grown in favor that few cities are without a system of 
electric street cars. 

• Among other inventions of Edison are the phonograph, 
the kinetoscope or moving picture machine, and the mimeo- 
graph for making many copies of one writing. So many 




Courtesy of Chicago Telephone Co., Chicago 

A Modern Switchboard in a Telephone Exchange 



460 



American History 



and so wonderful have been his inventions that he is called 
the " Wizard of Menlo Park." 





























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Wireless Station at Arlington 



Alexander Graham Bell, of Boston, discovered that elec- 
tricity could be used to carry the sound of the human voice. 
In 1876 he took out a patent for the telephone and exhibited 
his invention at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 461 

Almost at once the telephone was improved by a number 
of additional patents, and sprang into the world's notice and 
favor as a business necessity and a domestic con- 

^ , 1 • 1 The telephone 

vemence. Our homes, our busmess houses, our 
cities, are connected by telephone. MilHons of these instru- 
ments are now in use. It is possible to sit at a desk in New 
York and talk to friends in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, 
or anywhere else in the country. 

A great improvement upon the telegraph has been devised 
of late years by Marconi, an Italian, who has invented 
wireless telegraphy. By his invention messages 
are sent without wires many hundreds of miles ^ ,^^® ®^! 

-^ ^ telegraphy 

over the seas, thereby enabling ships to communi- 
cate with each other and with the shore. Thousands of 
lives have been saved at sea by wireless messages calling for 
assistance. Wireless stations of such power are established 
along the coast and at prominent places in the interior that it 
is now possible to send messages over the seas. The great 
station at Arlington can easily communicate with Paris and 
other European cities. 

The development of the automobile has been one of the 
great American industries. In 1895 an automobile race in 
Chicago over a ninety-mile race course, in which AutomobUe 
only two cars started, was finished by one car in a industry 
little less than nine hours, the car stopping ten times for 
repairs and fuel. The engine had to be cooled by ice to keep 
it from overheating. Since that time automobiles have 
developed a speed of a hundred and fifty miles an hour. 

In 1900 there were about 4000 cars made each year. Now 
there are over a million cars made annually, many of them 
marvels of beauty, comfort, and speed. The consumption of 
gasoline is over a billion gallons a year. If this quantity were 



462 



American History 



placed in cans of five gallons each, and the cans placed side 
by side, the row would reach twice around the earth. 

Henry Ford in 1893 made his first *' wagon driven by gas." 
It was very queer and excited great merriment on the streets 
of Detroit. Today the great Ford Motor Company turns 




Courtesy of Mr. Henry h'ord, Detroit 
Henry Ford in His First Car 

out a thousand cars every twenty-four hours, that find ready 
sale in every market of the world. 

One of the greatest inventions of modern times is the 
flying machine, or airplane. Many experiments 
have been made from time to time by men of vari- 
ous nations in attempts to make a heavier-than-air machine 
that would fly. These attempts were crude and dangerous 



Airplanes 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 463 

at best, some machines being unable to fly at all and others 
going only a few hundred feet in a single flight. 

The great development of the airplane is due to two 
brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, of Dayton, Ohio, who 
after years of experiment began to make successful flights. 
In 1904 they made a flight of three miles ; in 1905 a flight of 
24 miles ; in 1908 a flight of 95 miles. By this time they were 
recognized as having solved the question of navigating the air. 




© Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

Automobiles Now Crowd the Avenues op Our Cities 



Improvements upon airplanes have been made with 
astonishing rapidity. Almost every month brings a new 
record for distance and altitude. The airplane is no longer 
a novelty, or a toy, but is becoming a considerable factor in 
our military and commercial life. A speed of 150 miles an 
hour, and a height of five or six miles, are no uncommon 
occurrences. Even the Atlantic Ocean has been crossed by 
American aviators, though a stop was made at the Azores 
on the way. 



464 



American History 



In June, 1919, two British aviators made the first non-stop 
flight across the Atlantic Ocean, starting from Newfound- 
Long-dis- land and landing in Ireland. They flew 1900 miles 
tance flying [^ sixteen hours and twelve minutes, through fog 
and mist, sometimes with the plane upside down and only a 
few feet from the water, and then again soaring more than two 
miles high. 

In October, 1919, a transcontinental race between New 
York and San Francisco was undertaken by sixty-three fliers, 




Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 
An Airplane 



forty-eight starting from New York and fifteen starting from 
San Francisco. The fastest total flying time going west was 
twenty-five hours and eleven minutes ; going east the time 
was twenty-one hours and fifty-one minutes. 

In the World War the airplane showed conclusively its 
great value for military service. Since then airplane mail 
service has been instituted, and passenger traffic for business 
and pleasure has been undertaken in many places. 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 465 

3. GROWTH OF THE WEST 

We have already learned of the great movement west- 
ward after the discovery of gold in CaHfornia. Gold and 
silver were discovered in other places from time to time, 
and the great plains beyond the Mississippi were soon dotted 
with villages that rapidly grew into towns and cities. 

Chicago in 1830 was merely a fort in the wilderness. By 
1840 it had only five thousand people. Now it has over two 
million and a half people, and covers two hun- Growth of 
dred square miles. Kansas City was not known Western 
in 1850, but now it has three hundred and seventy- "*^^^ 
five thousand people. San Francisco ^ in 1840 had only 
five hundred people, and Milwaukee had only seventeen 
hundred. Now San Francisco has over five hundred and 
fifty thousand and Milwaukee about four hundred and fifty 
thousand inhabitants. In 1858 Denver was a mining camp ; 
now it has nearly three hundred thousand people. Truly, 
the great West has sprung into wonderful growth and power. 

Across the plains once went the " pony express," carry- 
ing mail from Missouri to San Francisco. Overland stages 
for passengers soon began to run on regular The pony 
schedules, and the comforts of civilization grad- express 
ually found their way into the wilderness. 

At length it was proposed to build a railroad across the 
country to California. Congress granted fifty milKon dol- 
lars to two companies to build railroads ; one. Pacific 
the Union Pacific Railroad, to build from Omaha railways 
westward, the other, the Central Pacific, to build from Sacra- 
mento eastward. For many years, across the prairies and 

^ The beautiful city of San Francisco was nearly destroyed by earthquake 
and fire in 1906, but its brave citizens have since carried out the rebuilding of 
the city upon a larger scale. 



466 



American History 



over the mountains, the work of building these transconti- 
nental lines continued. 

At last, in May, 1869, the two Hnes came together in Ogden, 
Utah, and the last spike was driven. It was a great event. 
As the blows fell, the news was telegraphed throughout the 
Union to let the people know that the Atlantic and Pacific 




Driving the Last Spike 



oceans — over three thousand miles apart — were connected 
by rail. 

Other great railroad lines have since been built across the 
continent, making it possible to travel in comfort from one 
end of our great country to the other in about a week. Once 
it took as long a time to go from New York to Boston, and then 
one had to travel in a stagecoach. 

Homestead In addition to granting sums of money to 

^^* these railroad companies. Congress gave them 

large sections of land along the lines to aid them in building 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 467 

up the country with settlers. In 1862 the Homestead Act 
was passed by Congress, which gave every man one hundred 
and sixty acres of government land provided he would settle 
on it, build a cabin, and cultivate the soil. 

These inducements by the government, and the ease of 
travel, led thousands of people to move into the West. 




Western Deserts Have Become Fertile i lELDb by Means of Irrigation 



Regions that were treeless wastes or a vast wilderness of 
uncultivated land soon were made fertile by irrigation; 
splendid roads were built along the highways ; people came in ; 
settlements that were composed of a few dugouts and sod 
cabins grew into villages and then into cities. 

The Indians have gradually given way to the advance of 
the white man. At one time they were free to range the 
plains. Later they were settled in the Indian Territory and 



468 



American History 



The Indians 



other reservations. They are beginning to take on some 
degree of civilization, living in houses, sending their children 
to school, and dwelling peaceably on the lands 
assigned to them. There are now about two hun- 
dred and fifty thousand Indians living on reservations, in 
the West mainly. 

In 1889 a portion of the Indian Territory was bought and 
called Oklahoma, " Red Man's Land." On the day this 
Opening of territory was opened there was a mighty rush of 
Oklahoma settlers across the line. All the night before 
thousands had camped on the borders. When the sign to 

move was given, 
on they went, 
by wagon and 
on horseback, to 
stake off their 
claims. Every 
man held what 
he staked off. 
Towns sprang 
up in a day 
and grew into 
cities in a week. 
Hundreds of 
thousands of 
people found homes in a few months. The race for Oklahoma 
showed the spirit of those who were peophng the western 
section of our country. . 

Western The industries of the West have grown wonder- 

farms fully. The settlers on the prairies found the land 

cheap, the soil fertile and easily plowed. The small farms 
grew into larger farms, until now one may see thousands 




The Indians Now Live on Reservations under the 
Protection of the Government 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 469 



of acres under cultivation. Many wheat fields and corn 
fields in the West extend unbroken for miles. As far as the 
eye can see the grain grows in one vast surface that moves like 
the waves of the ocean. There are single wheat fields fif- 
teen to twenty miles in extent. 

At first only horses, mules, and oxen were used for plow- 
ing. These have given way on the great farms to the steam 
plow and the tractor that, driven by one man, use of 
do the work of many teams. Then came the machinery 
steam harvester and thresher that went like a ^°^ arming 
giant mowing-machine through the ripened grain, cutting a 
wide swath, threshing, measuring, and sacking it ready for the 




Underwood A Underwood, A/. 
Cultivating with a Tractor 



market. On the great farms several of these machines will 
start abreast, keep in a straight course all day, and make a 
return journey the next day. 

These vast crops of wheat and corn have called for great 
mills for making flour and meal. In the large Western cities 
are immense elevators used for loading cars and ships with 
grain to be transported to all parts of the world. The West 
deserves to be called the granary of the world. 

Over the broad plains of the West, buffaloes once roamed 



470 



American History 



in great herds, but they have been hunted and slain for their 
hides and meat until now only a few survive. These are 
The passing kept guarded in the National Park, under the 
of the buffalo protection of the government; otherwise the 
historic buffalo of the West would soon be entirely extinct. 
To occupy the ranges of this old king of the plains have 
come the vast cattle ranches, embracing great areas of rich 




Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

Grain Elevators in Our Large Western Cities Load Vessels with Corn and 
Wheat for All Parts of the World 



grass over which wander herds of horned cattle, sheep, and 
hogs. 

Hundreds of thousands of cattle fatten on the prairie 
grass, tended by cowboys on their swift ponies. The cattle 
are marked by branding to indicate their owners. 
At the proper time they are herded for the mar- 
ket, gathered in cattle trains, and hurried to the great stock- 
yards of Chicago, Denver, St. Louis, and other Western 
cities. Every day thousands of cattle are landed in each of 
these cities. 



Cattle ranches 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 471 

Packing houses prepare the meat for market. It is in- 
spected by government officials, stored in refrigerator cars 
or in ships, and transported to all parts of the 
country and to nearly every part of the globe. 
In fact the armies of Europe are fed with the corn and meat 




© Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 
Baling Hay on a Western Farm 



of the West, and foreign nations depend upon us for much 
of their food supply. 

Railroads and telegraphs have changed the West from a 
wild country full of savages to a great region of prosperous 
and happy people. The trade with China in teas, spices, 



472 American History 

and silks, that once went around Cape Horn, now enters at 
California and goes overland to the East or passes through 
The China the Panama Canal by an all-water route. In- 
trade stead of six months on the ocean, the China 
trade is in New York in six weeks. 

Thus we see that the great West, once laughed at by states- 
men at Washington as being so far from the capital that a 
congressman could not arrive for his duties in six months, 
has now become one of the most important sections of the 
world. Its gold and silver mines, its fields of wheat and corn, 
its ranches of cattle, its great forests of timber, its gardens of 
vegetables, and its orchards of fruits have made it a region to 
which the world looks for food and shelter. 

One hundred years had passed since the great area once 
named Louisiana had been purchased by Jefferson from 
theLouisi- Napoleon. To celebrate the anniversary an 
ana Purchase exposition was held in St. Louis, which is the 
xposition largest city in the original tract. The gates were 
opened in April, 1904. The progress of the West was fully 
shown in the great exhibits of its many enterprises and indus- 
tries. It was the greatest fair our country has ever had, 
not excepting the World's Fair in Chicago. 

4. GROWTH OF THE SOUTH 

The South is rapidly recovering from the ravages of war. 
The eleven States that in i860 had nine million inhabitants, 
by 1910 had over twenty-two million. Of these, fifteen mil- 
lion were white people, and seven million were negroes. 
There are about two million more negroes in the United 
States, scattered through every State in the Union. 

The Southern people have learned that free labor is better 
than slave labor. The old way of farming has been succeeded 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 473 



by a better way. The farms are not so large, but they are 
more numerous and more productive, because they are tilled 
with more intelligence and less waste. The cotton The cotton 
crop is still the most important industry. In 1913 ^^^^ 
it was over three times as large as it was in i860. The South 
produces twelve to fourteen million bales a year, which is 
about three-fourths 

of all the cotton •: 

grown in the world. 
Of this amount nine 
million bales are an- 
nually exported to 
foreign countries. 

The South has 
learned that there 
The fruit are other 
crop treasures 

in its soil besides 
cotton. Millions of 
peach trees are being 
planted every year, 
bearing the finest of 
fruit, which is hur- 
ried in refrigerator 
cars to Northern 
markets. In addi- 
tion to this, great quantities of oranges, pineapples, straw- 
berries, melons, and vegetables are raised. The Southern 
farmer has learned the value of diversified crops, so that 
he no longer depends solely on cotton. In fact the fruit and 
vegetable crop of the South is rapidly rivaling the cotton 
crop in value. 




Picking Cotton on a Southern Farm 



474 American History 

For many years nearly all the manufacturing was done 

in the North ; of late years, however, there has been a great 

increase in the number of mills, especially cotton 

Cotton mills -n • i o i ^ ^ 

mills, m the South. On almost every stream, 
and in nearly every town of any size, may be found a cotton 
mill. In 1880 there were not more than two hundred cotton 
mills in the South. Now there are over eight hundred, and 
every year adds to their number. 

Millions of dollars are annually invested by Northern and 
foreign capitalists in Southern manufacturing. The near- 
ness of the cotton fields, the vast beds of coal for fuel, the 
almost inexhaustible water power, the open climate, the 
abundant and cheap labor, have induced the mills to come 
to the cotton, instead of requiring the cotton to go to the 
mills. If the world can depend on the West for its bread and 
meat, it can also depend on the South for its clothing. 

The Southern coal fields have become very valuable. 

Vast deposits lie in Alabama, Tennessee, and neighboring 

States. These deposits contain many times more 

Coalfields ^ . . 

coal than the fields of Great Britain. The fields 
of Alabama alone will supply the world for one hundred and 
fifty years. It is estimated that they are worth more than 
all the other property of that State combined. Only three 
States in the Union exceed Alabama in the mining of coal. 
The output of the Southern coal mines is ten times greater 
than it was thirty years ago, and is increasing every year. 

Crude oil has been found in quantities in the States of 
Texas and Louisiana. These two States alone produced 
in one year, thirty-seven million barrels. Texas 
stands fourth in the fist of States in the pro- 
duction of crude oil. In addition to oil, this State has natural 
gas wells that supply millions of cubic feet a day. 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 475 

The iron industry of the South is also rapidly increasing. 
In Alabama are great iron mines, and near them great 
foundries, in which as much pig iron is produced 
today as was produced by the entire country 
twenty years ago. Birmingham has become a coal and iron 
center, and the foundries rival those of Pennsylvania in size 
and production. 

In addition to this there are fifty million acres of hard- 
wood forests and one hundred and fifty million acres in 
pine forests in the South ; this being about one- 

1 ' 1 r ^ r r ^ • Forcst area 

third of the forest area of the entire country. 

These forests have called for sawmills, lumber mills, and other 

attendant industries. 

New Orleans, the largest city in the South, has a popula- 
tion of nearly four hundred thousand. It is the largest 
cotton port in America. For many years the New Orleans 
foreign commerce of the city suffered from lack and the 
of deep water at the mouth of the Mississippi. ^^^^^J®**'®^ 
That great stream brought down vast quantities of mud and 
sand that filled up the mouth of the river, making it difficult 
and often impossible for ships to pass. It was no uncommon 
occurrence for ships to wait for weeks to pass the bar, and 
then pay heavy charges for tugs to pull them across. 

Captain James B. Eads, an engineer of St. Louis, who 
had acquired fame by building the great steel bridge that 
spans the Mississippi at that place, proposed to Congress to 
open one of the mouths of the Mississippi and to keep it 
open. Congress reluctantly consented, and Eads set to work. 
In four years he built two piers, or jetties, two miles long 
and only four hundred yards apart, running far out into the 
gulf. The jetties were completed in 1879. 

This narrowed the stream and made the current swifter, 



476 American History 

so that the mud instead of being deposited in the bed of the 
river is carried out to sea. The river thus clears out its own 
mouth, and ships come up the river to New Orleans without 
hindrance. 

In 1884 the great Cotton Centennial Exposition was held 
in New Orleans. Its purpose was to celebrate the one-hun- 
Cotton dredth anniversary of the shipping of eight 

Centennial ^^gg ^f cotton from Charleston to England. 
Thousands of visitors came to the picturesque city to view 
the great display of products and industries of the awakened 
South. The buildings covered seventy-five acres. The 
main building was the largest which up to that time had ever 
been built for exhibition purposes. 

Other expositions have been held in Atlanta, Charleston, 

and Nashville. A notable one was held at Norfolk, Va., in 

1907, known as the Jamestown Exposition, to 

Expositions . . 111111 . r ^ 

celebrate the three-hundredth anniversary of the 
first permanent settlement in America. The splendid dis- 
plays in agriculture, manufactures, and in the arts and 
sciences showed how rapidly the South has recovered from 
the devastation of war, and how quickly it is regaining its 
position of wealth and influence in the nation. 

Considering the distress of the South by the losses of war 
and the depression of business, the progress in education has 
Education been remarkable. In 1870 the entire negro popu- 
in the South lation was comparatively illiterate. At the 
present time over two million negro children are annually 
enrolled in school. In the year 191 o the census showed that 
nearly three-fourths of the negroes of the South could read 
and write. In 1882 John F. Slater, of Connecticut, gave 
$1,000,000 to be used for the education of Southern negroes. 
The number of illiterate negroes is being rapidly reduced as 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 477 

schools increase in number and efficiency. At the present 
time there are few iUiterates among the negroes of school 
age, and every year the number of adult illiterates grows 
less. 

In 1882 Paul Tulane, who for many years had been a resident 
of New Orleans, gave $1,000,000 to found a university in 
that city. During - the same year George Peabody, the 
London banker, gave several million dollars for the cause of 
education in the South. Vanderbilt University at Nashville, 
Tennessee, was also founded and given a liberal endowment. 

Public schools have been organized in every State, free 
to both white and negro children, though the two races are 
always taught in separate schools. With education and in- 
creased wealth there have come greater industry, more 
economy, higher self-respect, and a nobler pleasure in correct 
living. 

5. AMERICAN LITERATURE AND ART 

Washington Irving, of New York, is called '' the Father 
of American Literature." In 1807 appeared " Knicker- 
bocker's History of New York." It is a humorous account 
of the old Dutch settlers and of life in New Amsterdam. 
Shortly afterwards appeared " The Sketch Book," containing 
" Rip Van Winkle," and '' The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." 
^ William CuUen Bryant is among our first and greatest 
poets. He wrote " Thanatopsis " when he was nineteen 
years old. His " To a W^aterfowl " is among the noblest 
poems in the language. 

Henry W. Longfellow was born in Maine, but spent most 
of his life in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Among his best 
short poems is " The Psalm of Life." One of the longer 
poems is " Hiawatha," a graphic story of Indian life. The 



478 



American History 



poem " Evangeline " is based upon the adventures of the 
Acadians. 

John Greenleaf Whittier is known as the " Quaker Poet." 
He was a poor boy^ born on a farm in Massachusetts. He 
became deeply interested in the movement to free the slaves, 

and wrote many stirring war 
poems. " Snow Bound " is 
considered one of the best 
descriptive poems in the lan- 
guage. 

Oliver Wendell Holmes, who 
was born in Cambridge, Mas- 
sachusetts, was a doctor as 
well as a poet and author. 
Among his humorous poems 
we may mention "' The Won- 
derful One-Hoss Shay," and 
" How the Old Horse Won the 
Bet." "The Last Leaf," and 
" The Chambered Nautilus," 
are splendid poems in a serious 
vein. 

Edgar Allan Poe is among the greatest of imaginative 
writers. His short stories are among the finest in the lan- 
guage. " The Black Cat," " The Gold Bug," " The Murders 
in the Rue Morgue," and others, have been translated into 
several foreign languages and widely used as. models of story 
writing. His poems, " The Raven," " The Bells," and 
" Annabel Lee," are well known in every household. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson and James Russell Lowell were 
critics of ability, as well as authors of high standing. 

Another famous poet is Joaquin Miller, whose poem 




Henry W. Longfellow 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 479 



" Columbus " is among the most stirring of all our patriotic 
poems. Walt Whitman, Eugene Field, and James Whitcomb 
Riley deserve a place in every library. 

Henry Timrod and Paul Hamilton Hayne have written 
strong and beautiful poems of the South. Father Ryan, 
who wrote " The Conquered Banner," and James R. Randall, 
who wrote " Maryland ! My Maryland ! " have produced 
pure and thrilling war lyrics. 

The most notable poet f 
of recent years is Sidney 
Lanier, of Georgia. Two of 
his poems are, ^' The Marshes 
of Glynn," and '^ The Song 
of the Chattahoochee." 
These contain some of the 
finest lines in our literature. 
Many critics, especially in 
England, have placed him 
beside the greatest of our 
literary artists. 

James Fenimore Cooper 
is the first of our great 
noveHsts. Spending much 
of his Kfe ' on the frontier 
of New York in the pioneer 
days, he learned the story 
of Indian life and tradi- 
tions. His famous stories of " The Last of the Mohicans," 
" The Deerslayer," " The Pathfinder," " The Prairie," are 
splendid Indian stories. To him more than to any one else 
is due the rescue of Indian Kfe from oblivion. Cooper had 
spent several years of his youth as a sailor, and therefore 




L. 



Edgar Allan Poe 



480 



American History 



could write notable sea stories. Among these are, " The 
Pilot," '' The Red Rover," '' The Two Admirals." There 
are no better books for boys in our literature than these 
stories of the early days. 

Nathaniel Hawthorne, of Massachusetts, is one of the finest 
masters of American prose. For many years he wrote without 

publication, in order to perfect 
r^ J his style. He spent several years 

M abroad in study and observation. 
His most notable stories are, 
"The Scarlet Letter," "Twice- 
Told Tales," "The Marble 
Faun," and " Mosses from an 
Old Manse." 

Among later writers may first be 
mentioned Samuel L. Clemens, 
better known as Mark Twain. 
" Roughing It " is a laughable 
story of a prospector's life in 
the West. " Innocents Abroad " 
is the most characteristic of all 
his books, and the one on which 
his fame mainly rests. It is a 
humorous account of his travels in Europe. Mark Twain 
is easily our greatest humorist. 

Bret Harte has written splendid stories of early life in the 
West. Two of the best are, " The Luck of Roaring Camp," 
and " How Santa Claus came to Simpson's Bar." Edward 
Eggleston wrote stories of pioneer days in Indiana. " The 
Hoosier Schoolmaster," and " The Circuit Rider," are per- 
haps his best. William Gilmore Sims of South Carolina has 
written splendid stories based on the traditions of the early 




Ralph Waldo Emerson 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 481 



times in the South. " The Yemassee " is one of the most 
noted. 

Thomas Nelson Page has written stories of Virginia and 
the war. Some of his short stories in dialect are among the 
strongest and best in our Hterature. Joel Chandler Harris 
has made "Uncle Remus " immortal, and has forever em- 
balmed the folklore of the slave quarters in the hearts of 
his readers. There are many other writers of stories in our 
language that show the awakening of a true literary spirit 
among our people. ^ 

In no branch of literature has I ,ir»s«^ 

more talent been shown than in £^W'^''^'^^9!&:-. 

the writing of history. William 

H. Prescott has told the roman- 'I©'!i:is--'^^#S* . 

tic story of "Ferdinand and ' -W .. ""'^^-ifiiS^, ^ 

Isabella," "The Conquest of ftfOsii # 

Peru," and " The Conquest of 
Mexico." John Lothrop Motley 
wrote the story of the Dutch 
Republic. Francis Parkman 
has written many books relat- 
ing the adventures of the French 
in America. George Bancroft 
has written the " History of 
the United States." All these 
authors possessed a glowing style that has made history as 
thrilling as any romance ever written. 

In the department of art we point with pride to Benjamin 
West, a poor Quaker boy in Pennsylvania, who showed early 
a talent for drawing, and who afterwards painted the wonder- 
ful picture, " Christ Healing the Sick." Copley painted 
portraits of Revolutionary heroes. 




John G. Whittier 



482 



American History 



Among sculptors Hiram Powers has gained a world-wide 
reputation for the beautiful figure of " The Greek Slave," 

now in the Cor- 
coran Art Gallery 
at Washington. 
Other renowned 
American sculp- 
tors are Saint Gau- 
dens, and Mac- 
Monnies, whose 
genius in design 
has won recogni- 
tion the world 
over. 

We have shown 
our admiration for 
literature by the 
great libraries in 
New York, Bos- 
ton, and elsew^here. 
The Library of 
Congress is one of the finest collections of books in the world, 
and the building is one of the most costly and beautiful. In 
nearly all our large cities are wonderful art galleries, where 
thousands of people view masterpieces of art in marble or on 
canvas. 

TOPICS 

Great American Enterprises. Starting the Atlantic cable; early 
efforts and failures. The Great Eastern and establishing communica- 
tion ; cables of the present day. Suspension bridges. Oil wells ; pres- 
ent-day product. Tall buildings ; other enterprises. Panama Canal ; 
early history; the French company; the two routes. Treaty with 




Sidney Lanier 



Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries 483 

Colombia and revolt of Panama. Treaty with Panama. The Canal 
completed ; its advantages. Peary reaches the North Pole. Growth 
of the United States ; area ; wealth ; products. 

Great American Inventions and Industries. Some inventors and 
their inventions; other inventions. The Patent Office. Thomas A. 
Edison; early life and experiments. The electric light; the electric 
car ; other inventions of Edison. The telephone. Wireless telegraphy. 
The automobile; early history; present-day manufacture; consump- 
tion of gasoline. Henry Ford's first car; present-day production. 
The flying machine ; early history. Orville and Wilbur Wright ; early 
flights. Improvements ; speed ; altitude ; crossing the ocean. The 
transcontinental race. 

Growth of the West. Growth of Chicago ; Kansas City ; San Fran- 
cisco ; Milwaukee ; Denver. The Pony Express. Building the Pacific 
railways ; driving the last spike. The Homestead Act ; moving West. 
The Indians. The rush to Oklahoma. Western farms; use of ma- 
chinery. Western mills. Passing of the buffalo ; cattle ranges and 
ranches. Western meat. The China trade. The Louisiana Pur- 
chase Exposition. 

Growth of the South. Recovery of the South ; population. Farm- 
ing in the South; the cotton crop. Education in the South; uni- 
versities; progress of the negroes; pubhc school systems. The fruit 
crop. Increase of cotton mills. The coal fields. Crude oil. The 
iron industry. The forest area. New Orleans ; the Eads jetties. Cot- 
ton Centennial Exposition; its purpose and size. Other expositions; 
the Jamestown Exposition. 

American Literature and Art. Irving ; Bryant ; Longfellow ; Whit- 
tier ; Holmes ; Poe ; Emerson ; Lowell ; Miller ; Whitman ; Field ; 
Riley ; Timrod ; Hayne ; Ryan ; Randall ; Lanier ; Cooper ; Hawthorne ; 
Clemens; Bret Harte ; Eggleston; Sims; Page; Harris; Prescott; 
Motley ; Parkman ; Bancroft ; West ; Copley ; Powers ; Saint Gaudens ; 
MacMonnies. 

SUBJECTS FOR STUDY 

How do you account for the American spirit for great enterprises? 
Which American invention do you consider the most valuable? What 
industry do you consider the most remarkable? What conditions 



484 American History 

make the West so wonderful a region? Why is it to the interest of the 
South to raise other crops besides cotton? What books by American 
authors have you read ? 

COMPOSITION 

Select one great American enterprise or invention and describe the 
good it has done to the world. 

Describe the life 6i a cowboy on a great ranch in the West. 
Write a description of life on a Southern farm. 

MAP STUDIES 

Locate the route of the Panama Canal. Locate some of the great 
cities of the West. 



Chapter XIV 
THE WORLD WAR 

1. EUROPE BEFORE THE WORLD WAR 

' Let us consider the situation in Europe preceding that 
great conflict known as the World War. 

In 1870 the German Confederation, of which Prussia was 
the most powerful state, under the leadership of Bismarck 
with his policy of '^ blood and iron," engaged in a war with 
France. This war was known as the Franco-Prussian War. 
It lasted but a short while, and France, defeated, was com- 
pelled to submit to the terms imposed by Germany. 

France had to pay to Germany an indemnity of nearly 
one billion dollars. The money was deposited in German 
banks, and was used in expanding the commerce „ 

' ^ ° Franco- 

and manufactures of Germany. France was Prussian War 
compelled to cede to Germany the province of and demands 

. r o^ France 

Alsace, and the northern part of the provmce of 
Lorraine, territory rich in iron and coal. " This wrong done 
to France," said President Wilson, " unsettled the peace of 
Europe for fifty years." 

The German Confederation, which was composed of a 
number of German states and principalities, was changed into 
the German Empire, with the king of Prussia as progress of 
German Emperor or ''Kaiser." Germany as a the German 
united country started out on its career of pros- ^^^^^ 
perity and power. Her population increased from forty- 
one million in 1870 to about seventy million at the opening 

485 



486 



American History 



of the World War. Her production of coal and iron was in- 
creased tenfold, while in wealth, commerce, and manufactures 
she was second in Europe to England only. Germany had 
grown rapidly into a great and powerful nation, rich and pros- 
perous, with her agents in every country, her ships on every 






Cubfin|i; 

P|^ -^Brussels^.J 
^''•«*\,„J^'''^'^vre **T\i^ Luxemburg 

\f ran c^eJ 




IX (a U^S T K I 



A^ienna 



^ \ Beffi^-u-v ^^ Budapest/^ f -^ ^. h N 



S P A^ N 



D I T 



G E R I 



'SARDINIA 



Europe in 1913 

sea, and the products of her factories for sale in every city of 
the world. 

Unfortunately, this great and growing nation showed no 
liberality in its government. Pohtical power in Prussia was 
largely in the hands of capitahsts and land-owners, especially 
the Junkers, or the Prussian nobles. A military system was 
developed, designed to keep the people blindly devoted to the 
Kaiser, no matter what he said or did. There were frequent 



The World War 487 

references in reports and speeches of the German leaders to a 
necessity for conquests, and to a behef in the righteousness of 
war. 

Through many years Germany built up a military system 
that made that nation practically an armed camp. Every 
man capable of bearing arms was a trained soldier, ^j^^ ^^ 
and they numbered millions. Vast quantities of tary system 
supplies, guns, and ammunition were stored, war- ^ ermany 
ships were built and launched, and fortifications were placed 
on all frontiers. In addition to this Germany had her agents 
or spies in all countries, keeping her informed of the size and 
strength of armaments, and the political and commercial 
plans and purposes of all peoples. 

It appeared that Germany was getting ready for war. 
Her statesmen and writers considered war strictly from a 
business basis. If war could be made profitable to Germany 
then war was a proper enterprise. By a successful war, large 
indemnities could be demanded, which would not only pay 
for the war, but would also create a fund to be used in the 
industrial expansion of the nation. Also, taxes could be laid 
upon the conquered people, ofhces would be created for 
Germans to fill, new concessions could be required and markets 
opened for German trade only. No matter what war cost in 
blood and misery Germany saw only the vision of national 
glory. 

Germany wanted more territory. She wanted the iron and 
coal mines that France still held along the borders; she 
wanted the rich iron ore deposits and the coal Moretem- 
fields of Belgium ; she wanted more seaports to the *°^y 
west and south and along the Baltic Sea. Then she wanted 
more colonies in different parts of the w^orld to provide her 
with food suppHes and raw materials, and open up new markets 



488 American History 

for her manufactures. She wanted coaling stations in all 
seas to supply and protect her ships both in times of peace 
and war. 

Germany wanted more trade. England was the mistress 
of the seas, and proposed to remain so. England was the 
great carrier of the world's products, and her com- 
mercial supremacy was a bitter fact for Germany. 
England stood in Germany's way and was between her and 
the world's commercial conquest. A favorite toast df the 
officers of the German navy was to " der Tag," which meant 
" the day " when the pride of England would be huinbled, 
and Germany would have " a place in the sun." 

Already Germany had secured a strong influence over 
Turkey, and by 1914 had more than half completed a rail- 
BerUn-to-Bag- road through Turkey to the Persian Gulf, which 
dad Railway ghe hoped some day to see finished as th^ Berlin- 
to-Bagdad Railway, completely controlling the Eastern trade. 
This was the beginning of the plans of Germany to secure 
dominant power over " Mittel Europa," or Middle Europe. 

Germany wanted world power. Her writers and rulers 
had proclaimed that German '' Kultur," by which is meant 
World the combined effect of the literature^ religion, 

power manners, customs, government, and ihought of 

Germany was the best in all the world, and that the world 
should accept it. She desired to Germanize the world so that 
her flag should float unchallenged in all ports, her products 
be preferred in all markets, and her opinions regarded in all 
courts. 

The other nations of Europe regarded the increasing mili- 
tary preparation of Germany with much distrust. They were 
compelled to sustain armies and navies in ever growing pro- 
portion and expense, until for many years there Was a heavy 



The World War 489 

burden of taxation, a feverish haste of armament, and a spirit 
of oppressive militarism that boded ill for the world. The 
European nations raised and equipped armies, Militarism 
gathered supplies, manufactured guns and ammu- in Europe 
nition, and waited for the explosion of war which they feared 
would come at any moment. The military situation in Europe 
became a menace to the peace and goodwill of the world. 

The nations in Europe made alHances according to their 
interests. Germany made an alliance with Austria-Hungary 
and with Italy in 1882, which was called the Triple Aiuances of 
Alliance. This alliance was a defensive alliance, the nations 
however, and pledged its members to defend any ° ^^^^^ 
one of the three against an outside invasion or attack. To 
combat this combination Great Britain, France, and Russia 
corripleted an agreement in 1907, known as the Triple En- 
tente. Thus we see the six great powers of Europe lined up, 
and it was reasonably certain that any war would involve 
nearly the entire continent. 

In order to meet this unnatural situation and to prevent 
war, the Czar of Russia, Nicholas II, sent an invitation to all 
nations to send representatives to a conference to Hague Con- 
discuss the prevention of war. Twenty-six na- Terences 
tions responded, twenty of them European. The conference 
was held at The Hague, the beautiful capital of Holland, in 
May, 1899. It was proposed at this conference to limit the 
armaments of all nations, but the measure was defeated. 
Germany voted against every proposal that sought to reduce 
the size of the armies and navies of Europe. 

The only result of the conference was an agreement to es- 
tablish an international tribunal of peace, or a court of arbi- 
tration, to which all nations might bring their disputes for 
settlement. 



490 American History 

A second Hague Conference was held in June, 1907. Forty- 
seven nations were represented. This conference confined 
itself to drawing up and agreeing to a code of international 
laws known as the Hague Conventions. These agreements 
contain rules about submarine mines, treatment of prisoners, 
bombardment of towns, use of poison, and of weapons that 
may cause unnecessary suffering, the rights of neutrals, etc. 
We are soon to see that all these efforts at peace, and these 
agreements for humane practices, amounted to nothing in 
the great war to follow. 

2. HOW THE WORLD WAR BEGAN 

The world at large has laid upon Germany the charge of 
preparing for and precipitating the World War. The charges 
against that nation are : 

1. Forty years of preparation in creating tremendous 
armaments and collecting vast supplies. 

2. Justification and glorification of war on the part of her 
statesmen, writers, orators, and teachers. 

3. Formation of the Triple Alliance, as a league of defense 
in case of attack by an outside nation. 

4. Hostility to any purpose of the Hague Conference to 
limit armaments and to prevent war. 

5. The expressed determination of Germany to gain more 
territory, dominate Middle Europe, and control the commerce 
of the world. 

Thus the stage was set. All that was needed was an excuse 
for bringing on a general war that would involve all Europe. 

The excuse was found in the ill-feeling that existed between 
the Serbs, as well as other Slavic races living in the southern 
provinces of Austria, and the Austrian government itself. 
The Serbs, particularly those living in the provinces of Bosnia 



The World War 491 

and Herzegovina, which had been annexed to Austria, desired 
to be united to the Serbian government, while on the other 
hand, Austria desired to crush out this opposi- Discontent 
tion and overrun Serbia itself. Feeling therefore of the Serbs 
was very intense between Austria and the Slavic population 
in her southern territory. 

June 28, 1914, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to 
the throne of Austria, was on a visit to Sarajevo, the capital 
of Bosnia, an Austrian province, to take part in . . . 

^ , /^ Assassination 

a public ceremony. While he and his wife were of the Arch- 
driving through the city, a young Bosnian ran up duke Francis 

, , ., . . 1 1-1 Ferdinand 

to the automobile contammg the royal pair and 
shot them both dead. It is quite certain that the assassin was 
a member of a secret society the purpose of which was to 
separate the Serb provinces from Austria and to annex them 
to Serbia. His deed was a mad act, and its perpetration 
caused horror and consternation throughout Europe. 

Nearly a month later, July 23, the Austrian government 
sent to Serbia an ultimatum that practically accused that 
government of being responsible for the murder, ultimatum 
and making of her the most humihating demands, to Serbia 
The ultimatum expired in forty-eight hours. Serbia was 
helpless, and conceded every point except those that com- 
promised her sovereignty. She offered to refer those parts 
to the arbitration of the Hague Tribunal. 

Austria was not satisfied, and July 28, declared war on 
Serbia. In the meanwhile all efforts to keep the peace of 
Europe were unavailing. Notes were exchanged between 
the different governments, and proposals made for a com- 
promise, but nothing was accomplished. It was charged that 
Germany was urging Austria to her course and opposing any 
plans to prevent war. 



492 American History 

Austria began a general mobilization of troops. Russia, 
who was allied in sympathy and interest with Serbia, replied 
_ , . bv mobilizing troops on the Austrian frontier. 

Declarations ' or 

of war on Germany now entered the field and sent an ulti- 

Russiaand matum to Russia, giving that government twelve 
hours to stop all war preparations. At the same 
time Germany sent an ultimatum to France, demanding to 
know if she would remain neutral in case of war. The French 
Prime Minister replied that '' France would do that which 
her interest dictated." Russia declined to stop her prepara- 
tions. Consequently, August i, Germany declared war on 
Russia, and August 3, declared war on France. 

It was the plan of Germany to bring a quick issue of battle 
before her enemies could get ready. Her first movement 
was against France, which country she hoped to subdue in 
a few weeks and then turn on Russia. To do this, speed 
was necessary and speed demanded an easy access to French 
territory. 

The frontier of France on the German side was heavily 
defended by strong forts, and the country was mountainous. 
Invasion of affording easy defense against invasion. To move 
Luxemburg across France in this direction would take time 
and Belgium ^^^ ^^ costly in men and money. Germany de- 
cided to move across Luxemburg and Belgium and into France 
over the level plains of the northern frontier, which were not 
heavily fortified. Germany's demand to King Albert, of 
Belgium, for a right of way over his country was indignantly 
denied by that ruler, who replied that " Belgium is not a 
thoroughfare, but a nation." 

To march over these countries was openly and defiantly to 
break the terms of solemn treaties in which Prussia, now the 
leading power of the German Empire, along with Great Britain, 



The World War 



493 



France, Russia, and Austria, had guaranteed the territory 
of Luxemburg and Belgium from invasion. They were in- 
ternationalized and declared neutral countries, violating 
Germany had signed this treaty and was now the treaties 
breaking her word as a natio'n. It mattered ^^^^^^^ty 
little to Germany, however, that she was breaking a signed 
treaty and invading neutral territory. She declared it was 
" a military necessity " and any treaty to the contrary was 
'' a scrap of paper." 

Luxemburg was soon overrun, for that little country was 
helpless. August 3, 1914, the German army entered Belgium. 
In a few days the fortress at Liege was reduced after a terrific 
shell fire, and in three weeks more, Belgium was almost en- 
tirely in the hands of the German army. Thus did Germany 
commit the greatest crime of modern times, to the indignation 
and astonishment of the entire world. ^ 

As soon as the German army entered Luxemburg and was 
on its way to Belgium, Great Britain demanded of Germany 
that she withdraw her troops and change her plan Q^^g^^. Britain 
of invasion. Germany refused, and August 4, declares war 
Great Britain declared war on the ground that she was 
bound to protect the neutrality of Belgium. Thus in one 
week Russia, Great Britain, and France, commonly called 
the Allies, were at war with Germany and Austria, commonly 
called the Central Powers. Italy still held aloof, not bound 
to enter the war, because the Triple AlHance was a defensive 

^ The invasion of Luxemburg was in violation of the Treaty of London (1867), 
as well as of her rights as a neutral state in general. The invasion of Belgium 
was a violation of the Treaty of London (1839) by which Belgium became " an 
independent and perpetually neutral state." Prussia, Great Britain, Austria, 
and Russia became the guarantors of her neutrality. This neutrality was con- 
firmed by other treaties in 1870 between Great Britain and Prussia, and Great 
Britain and France. 



494 American History 

league only. Japan, the ally of England, entered the war 
August 23. 

The German army met opposition across Belgium by the 
brave Belgian army. For ten days the advancing hosts were 
held in check while the French armies were mobilizing to meet 
them, and the British forces were being hurried across the 
Channel. These were terrible days of disaster for the Belgian 
territory, but they served the great purpose of delaying the 
advance of the German army. 

The German army finally advanced into France across the 
territory of Belgium. The French and English troops could 
not stop them. For twelve days there was a terrific struggle 
as the great wave of the invaders moved on. At length the 
German line was within twenty miles of Paris, and that capital 
seemed doomed. 

In the meantime the French commander, General Joffre, 
had collected his army and prepared a stand on the Marne 
River. At the critical moment he ordered his troops to ^' face 
death and not surrender." The first battle of the Marne 
began September 6, 1914, and at the end of five days the 
Germans were not only checked in their advance, but thrown 
back a distance of fifty miles. Paris was saved, and the plans 
for a world victory in one short campaign had failed. 

3. THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR 

After the great battle of the Marne, the Germans retired 
to the Aisne River, where they dug trenches and threw up 
fortifications, from which the British and French were not 
able to dislodge them. In the early fall of 19 14 fighting was 
continuous for nearly a month in Flanders, in which the 
Germans lost 150,000 men. The Belgians cut the dikes 
of the river Yser, flooding the country along the coast and 



The World War 



495 



stopping the advance of the Germans. Both armies now 
dug trenches and estabhshed hnes that practically remained 
unchanged until near the end of the war. 

While all this was going on in France, huge Russian armies 
were gathering for an invasion of Germany and Austria. 
The plan of attack was to drive the Germans out Russians 
of East Prussia on the Baltic Sea, and the Aus- defeated in 
trians out of Gahcia on the south, and then ^^^t Prussia 
make a central drive through Poland to Berlin. About the 




—Battle Line, Sept. 6, 

Farthest German A'dvance 
^Battle Line, Dec. 31., 1914 



The Western Front in 1914 



time the Germans entered Belgium, the Russians entered 
East .Prussia. But the Germans rushed reinforcements 
to that country under General von Hindenburg and ad- 
ministered a crushing defeat to the Russians at Tannen- 
berg. The Russians then retired from German territory. 



496 



American History 



The Russians were more successful in Galicia, for by the 
end of 19 14 nearly all of that province was in Russian hands. 
Turkey ^^ ^^^ Other hand, German troops had crossed 

enters the the border of Poland and were threatening War- 
^" saw, the most important city. At the same 

time Turkey, who was already secretly allied to Germany, 
entered the war by bombarding Russian forts on the Black 
Sea, and attacking French and Russian vessels. This brought 
on a declaration of war against Turkey by Russia, Great 
Britain, and France (November 3-5). 

Blockading With a deadlock on the western front, let us see 

the German what was happening outside the immediate area 
^°^^ of war. The British navy had been assembled 

and assigned the task of destroying or blockading the Ger- 
man fleet so that it 
could not interfere with 
any operations at sea. 
Before war began the 
German fleet, at least a 
greater part of it, had 
been recalled from its 
various stations and was 
securely hidden in Ger- 
man ports behind strong 
forts, and in inside 
waters strewn with 
mines. The English 
fleet was now on guard 
outside, ready and anx- 
ious for the Germans to 




The Eastern Front in 1914 

come out and give battle, 
do, fearing the result. 



This the Germans refused to 



The World War 497 

In the meantime a few German commerce raiders were 
loose on the seas, doing much damage to merchant ships. 
These were hunted down and destroyed by British vessels 
so that in a short time Germany had no ships of any sort 
afloat on the high seas. Her merchant vessels left abroad 
were seized if in an enemy's port, or were interned during the 
war if in a neutral port. 

The colonial possessions held by Germany were soon lost 
to her. All of her Pacific island coaling stations and her 
interests in China were captured by the Allies early in the 
war. Her colonies in Africa later on passed into the hands 
of the Allies. By the loss of her shipping and the blockade 
of her ports Gerrnany was completely isolated from the rest 
of the world, and had to depend upon herself and her im- 
mediate neutral neighbors for supplies. 

In Belgium the Germans soon had possession of nearly 
the entire country, including Antwerp. In France, Ger- 
many held the richest manufacturing districts, 
including four-fifths of the iron and steel indus- of Belgium 
tries, and one-half the coal. She now began a and northern 

. , • r ^ , . France 

systematic destruction of the conquered territory. 
Louvain, a city of 45,000 people, was pillaged. The cathe- 
dral and about one-third of the city were destroyed and 
many of the able-bodied among the population were carried 
off into Germany. 

Contrary to the rules of warfare Germany began to plunder 
the occupied territory, and to terrorize the inhabitants. 
Machinery from the factories, household goods, articles 
made of metal, wool, rubber, and leather were seized and 
taken to Germany. The food supplies of the people, the 
farm animals, the draught horses, and even the farm im- 
plements were taken. In many instances farmhouses and 



498 



American History- 



growing crops, orchards, and vineyards were ruthlessly de- 
stroyed. Belgium and northern France were reduced to a 
very desolate condition. 

In addition to all this the Germans compelled many Bel- 
gians to leave their homes and/ families and go to Germany 
to work in the fields and factories and mines of that coun- 
try. Probably two hundred thousand persons were forced 




(C L HI : n„„i ^v_ L nil nin.id, N. Y. 

A Village in France Ruined by German Shell Fire 



to leave their homes and to work under compulsion of Ger- 
man masters. If it had not been for the assistance 
of America, England, and France, the remaining population 
of Belgium would have starved for lack of food. 

Both armies had settled down to the plan of trench war- 
fare. The trench lines were the battle lines, and stretched 
Trench war- for four hundred miles from the North Sea to the 
fare Swiss border. These trenches were generally par- 

allel, sometimes a mile or more apart, and elsewhere only a 
few hundred feet apart. In each trench lay the watchful 
soldiers, ready at any moment to take advantage of the 



The World War 



499 



enemy. Between the trenches lay a strip of land known as 
'' No Man's Land," for it belonged to whichever side could 
capture it. In front of each trench was generally a strong 
barbed wire entanglement, made by lacing barbed wire 
around strong posts and connecting it for great lengths. 
This was designed to stop the advance of the enemy. 

The trenches varied in depth, but were always deep enough 
to protect the men as they moved about from place to place. 




Committee on Public Information, Washington 
Mess Time in the Trenches 



The lines curved and twisted, so as to avoid any long straight 
stretches, which would afford a flanking fire from the enemy 
in case of capture. Inside these trenches were dugouts 
where the men lived, ate, slept, kept ammunition and suppKes. 
Some of these dugouts were forty feet deep. Communication 



500 American History 

trenches connected the front Hnes with those in the rear for 
bringing up food and suppKes. In good weather and in 
summer the trenches could be made endurable, but in rain or 
snow the trenches were full of water and mud, and the ground 
was often frozen so that the soldiers suffered great hardship. 

Inside the front hne trenches the soldiers were always 
prepared to repel an attack of the enemy. In dugouts, 
deep under ground, they hid when an artillery attack sent 
its heavy explosive shells. When the time came for an at- 
tack to be made, the soldiers made ready with gun and bayo- 
net, and at a signal clambered out of- the trench and " over 
the top," crossed " No Man's Land," and with the throw- 
ing of grenades and shouts of defiance dropped into the 
trenches of the enemy. In this way a few hundred feet 
might be gained by an attack, and an enemy's trench be 
captured ; but at best trench warfare proved to be a slow 
means of conquering a strong foe. 

4. TWO YEARS OF CONFLICT 

The armies on the western front, secure in their trenches, 
faced each other in a deadlock which remained practically 
unbroken. Small engagements took place from time to 
time, but without much impression on the general line. 

In April, 191 5, the Germans introduced a new horror in war- 
fare — that of poison gas. Some French and Canadian 
troops near Ypres saw a strange yellow cloud 
rolling on the ground from the German lines, 
borne by the wind toward the Allied trenches. It proved 
to be poison gas. Those who breathed it were said to be 
" gassed," and many suffered death by terrible tortures. 

Later on the peril from poison gas was met by the use of 
masks, which were instantly adjusted at the sound of danger. 



The World War 501 

These masks communicated with a container holding chemi- 
cals which neutrahzed the effect of the gas. 

Early in 191 5 the Allies attempted to force a passage 
through the Dardanelles, in order to capture the city of 
Constantinople. The Turkish forts were too campaign 
strong, however, and the Allied fleets were re- against Con- 
pulsed. Later on a large force was landed on s*^^*"^®p® 
the Gallipoh Peninsula in an effort to take Constantinople 
by a land attack, and a regular siege was begun against the 
Turkish and German forces. The fighting on the Peninsula 
continued month after month for the entire year ; but with- 
out any distinct gains by the AlHes. Finally, in January, 
1916, the campaign was abandoned. 

In the meantime the Russian frontier was the scene of 
heavy operations. Early in the year the Russians had scored 
success in Galicia, capturing the fortress of 

T^ 1 T T^ T-k • 1 • Disaster to 

Przemysl. in East Prussia another campaign Russian 
had been projected by the Russians, but Gen- forces in 
eral von Hindenburg met the invaders at the and Poland 
Mazurian Lakes and completely defeated them. 
The number of Russians killed, wounded, and prisoners was 
150,000. In June the Germans and Austrians took the 
offensive, forced the Russians out of Gahcia, recapturing 
all the territory, and at the same time overrunning all of 
Russian Poland. Russia lost 65,000 square miles of rich terri- 
tory, which was given over to plunder and devastation. The 
inhabitants of Poland were made to suffer in the same way 
as those of Belgium. B^g^i^ 

After the failure of the Gallipoli campaign and enters the 
the Russian disasters of 1915, Bulgaria entered ^" 
the war on the side of the Central Powers, October, 191 5. 
Acting with Austria, her armies invaded Serbia and com- 



502 American History 

pletely crushed that almost defenseless country. Serbia now 
felt the same cruelties that had been inflicted upon Belgium 
and Poland. The Central Powers were storing up a long 
reckoning against the day of retribution. 

Thus we see that the year 191 5 had been a sad one for the 
AlHes on the eastern front. The attempt to capture Con- 
stantinople was a failure, Poland and GaHcia had been over- 
run by the Germans, the Russians had suffered a severe de- 
feat in East Prussia, and Bulgarian and Austrian troops 
had devastated Serbia. 

Turning to the west we find the main issue of 191 5 on the 
seas. The Allied fleets had blockaded German ports, and 
War zone the blockade was very rigid. Neutral countries 

declared lying next to Germany, who had been trading with 

the Central Powers, were cut down in their allowance of 
supplies so that trade with Germany could not be carried on 
by transshipment. Germany replied by declaring a war 
zone around the British Isles and warned all neutral vessels 
to keep out of those waters or suffer the consequences of be- 
ing sunk by torpedoes from her undersea craft. 

Germany now turned to an active submarine warfare to 
punish her enemies, and reduce the number of transports 
Submarine for troops and ships for supplies. The building 
activity q( large numbers of submarines or U-boats was 

undertaken. These could operate for a long distance at 
sea, and could stay abroad for several weeks. Indeed some 
boats were built that crossed the ocean. These submarines 
were supplied with torpedoes to be launched at enemy craft, 
as well as with guns for surface combat. Lying in wait or 
slowly cruising in the waters around the British Isles or in any 
war zone, these boats would perceive through their almost 
invisible periscopes the presence of an enemy's merchant 



The World War 503 

vessel, transport, passenger ship, or war vessel. Then with- 
out warning the deadly torpedo was launched, a long straight 
ripple in the waters marked its flight, it struck with frightful 
explosion, and in a few minutes the stricken vessel was a 
helpless wreck on the surface or was slowly sinking to the 
bottom of the sea. It took many months for the AlHes to 
learn how by laying mine-protected areas, or constructing 




« ^. 



A Submarine Afloat 



sea lanes, and the use of swift-sailing destroyers, to reduce 
the menace of the U-boat. 

The most serious offense of the submarine campaign of 
Germany was the sinking of the Lusitania, the great British 
passenger liner, off the coast of Ireland, without sinking of 
warning, on the afternoon of May 7, 191 5. Pre- theius/- 
vious to its departure from New York notice had '""'*^ 
been given in the daily papers warning all passengers of the 
intention of Germany to destroy by submarine all enemy 
vessels found in the war zone. No one believed that a great 
passenger ship carrying women and children was in danger. 
The ship was crowded with passengers; and in a few days 



504 American History 

after leaving port the deadly submarine carried out the threat. 
There were 1152 lives lost, men, women, and children, of 
whom 114 were known to be American citizens, among them 
a number of children. 

A thrill of horror went through the world at this unheard-of 
act of warfare. A feeling of bitter indignation and resent- 
ment against Germany went over America, and war between 
the United States and Germany was narrowly averted for 
the time. Germany promised that hereafter no liners would 
be sunk without warning and without safety to the non- 
combatants. 

Shortly after this occurrence Italy entered the conflict 
by declaring war against Austria, May 23, 1915. She was 
Italy enters not bound by the Triple Alliance since that was 
the war merely a defensive league. On the other hand, 

Italy had an ancient grudge against Austria for holding 
certain territory around Trent and Trieste, that Italy felt 
rightfully belonged to her. This territory was called " Italia 
Irredenta," or the unredeemed portion of Italy. More 
than a year later Italy extended her declaration to include 
war on Germany. 

Early in 19 16 the Germans undertook to reduce the strong 
fort of Verdun on the eastern frontier of France. It was a 
Attack on very powerful and important stronghold, and if 
Verdun captured would expose the AlHed armies in France 

to a flank movement and all French territory to invasion. 
A titanic struggle ensued, lasting many months. Hundreds 
of thousands of troops were hurled against the French bar- 
riers, to be mowed down like grain. The most powerful guns 
were brought up and used in vain. It was an orgy of battle, 
in which lives were counted as nothing. The French set 
their face grimly to the conflict and to the sacrifice. Their 



The World War 



505 



cry was, " They shall not pass." By the end of the year the 
Germans had lost a half million men and the losses of the 
French were equally severe, but Verdun was saved. The 
armies of Germany retired in defeat. The German fighting 
machine had been put to its mightiest test, and had failed. 

In July, 1916, there was a forward movement of the Allies 
along the Somme River. For nearly five months the battle 
raged all along the front Hues, but in the end the Allies gained 




[gj Undcniuud <X- Undtntuod, N. Y. 
The British Tanks Were Armored Land Cruisers 

only a few miles. It was in this battle that the British first 
used the " tanks," a kind of armored land cruiser that there- 
after played an important part in the war. 

These tanks were great lumbering machines, so built that 
they could cut through barbed wire, cross ditches, pull through 
mud, and over fields. Inside the armored plates 
was a crew of machine gunners, whose business 
it was to penetrate the enemy's lines, roll over the machine- 
gun nests, mow down the enemy's soldiers, and do as much 
damage as possible. They moved too rapidly for artillery to 



Tanks 



5o6 American History- 

be brought to bear upon them, while the Hghter guns had no 
effect upon their armored sides. 

In August, 191 6, Roumania entered the war on the side of 
the Alhes. This brought httle comfort to the AlHed cause, 
and much disaster to Roumania, for the forces of Germany 
soon overran the Roumanian territory, capturing quantities 
of oil and wheat and strengthening the communication with 
Turkey. 

The end of 191 6 saw little change in the general condition 
of the war, but there was evidence of exhaustion of men and 
supplies on both sides as the great conflict went on. 

5. THE UNITED STATES ENTERS THE WAR 

Germany was now prepared to prosecute her threat to 
destroy all vessels found in the war zone. January 31, 1917, 
Unrestricted Count von Bcrnstorff, the German ambassador 
submarine to the United States, presented a note to the Secre- 
warfare ^^^^ ^£ State announcing that Germany would 

begin the next day an unrestricted submarine warfare against 
all vessels, neutral and otherwise, found in the waters around 
Great Britain and France. The note said, " All ships met 
within the zone will be sunk." President Wilson replied 
by handing Count von Bernstorff his passports and recalling 
Ambassador Gerard from Berlin. In this way diplomatic 
relations with Germany were severed. 

President Wilson went before Congress, February 26, and 
asked for authority " to supply our merchant ships with 
defensive arms, should that become necessary, and with the 
means of using them, and to employ any other instrumen- 
talities or methods that may be necessary and adequate to 
protect our ships and our people in their legitimate and peace- 
ful pursuits on the seas." 



The World War 507 

About this time a note was published, addressed by Dr. 
Zimmermann, the German foreign minister, to the German 
minister in Mexico. This note had been inter- xheZimmer- 
cepted before it reached its destination. It con- mann affair 
tained a proposal for Mexico to enter into an alliance with 
Germany against the United States. The money was to 
be furnished by Germany, and Mexican troops were to in- 
vade Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The note was 
dated twelve days before the United States was informed 
of Germany's plan for unrestricted submarine warfare and 
while those countries were at peace with each other. The 
pubKcation of the Zimmermann note still further strained 
the relations between the two countries. 

President Wilson called Congress together in extra ses- 
sion, and April 2, 191 7, delivered his famous war message. 
He told them that " vessels of every kind, what- president 
ever their flag, their character, their errand, Wilson's 
have been ruthlessly sent to the bottom without ^ar message 
warning, and without thought of help or mercy for those on 
board." He furthermore said, '' We will not choose the 
path of submission and suffer the most sacred rights of our 
nation and our people to be ignored or violated." 

He advised Congress " to declare the recent course of the 
Imperial German Government to be in fact riothing less than 
war against the government and people of the United States, 
... to put the country in a more thorough state of defense, 
... to exert all its power and employ all its resources to bring 
the Government of the German Empire to terms and end 
the war." 

The purpose of this government the President stated as 
follows : '' We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no 
conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for our- 



5o8 



American History 




The World War 



509 



selves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall 
freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights 
of mankind. . . . We shall fight ... for democracy, for the 
right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their 
own government, for the rights and liberties of small nations, 
for a universal do- 
minion of right by 
such a concert of 
free peoples as shall 
bring peace and 
safety to all na- 
tions." 

April 6, 1917, Con- 
gress resolved that 

Declaration " the state 

of war of war be- 

tween the United 
States and the Im- 
perial German Gov- 
ernment which has 
thus been thrust 
upon the United 
States is formally 
declared." During 
the same month 
Austria and Tur- 
key severed diploraatic relations with the United States. 
War was not declared against Austria until December 7. In 
this way our great country entered the war and took its stand 
by the side of the AlHes. 

Conditions in Russia were now becoming serious. There 
was shortage of food, and the old discontent among the people 




David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of England 

DURING THE WORLD WaR 



510 



American History 



Conditions 
in Russia 



at the autocratic authority of the Czar had developed into 
a revolution that threatened to overthrow the government. 
Hungry and dissatisfied crowds rioted in the 
streets of Petrograd, the soldiers joined the 

mobs, the revolu- 
tion spread to other 
parts of the em- 
pire, Russia became 
disorganized and 
confused and at 
the mercy of Ger- 
man emissaries and 
armies. 

March 15, 1917, 
the Czar signed a 
paper abdicating 
the throne of Rus- 
sia. The revolu- 
tionists took charge 
of the government, 
declared the mon- 
archy at an end 
and a republic es- 
tablished, and be- 
gan at once to limit 
their interests in 
the war. The Czar v/as held prisoner for more than a year, 
and was finally executed. 

After much internal disorder, the Bolsheviki, or the ex- 
treme socialist party of Russia, gained control of affairs. 
Strikes, riots, and revolts occurred in many parts of Russia, 
and Germany secretly aided the revolutionists by her agents 




© Underwood & Underwood, N. Y 
Georges Clemenceau, Premier of France during 
THE World War 



The World War 511 

and money. The Bolsheviki declared in favor of peace. At 
Brest-Litovsk, a town in Russian Poland, a treaty was forced 
by Germany upon Russia, which deprived her of 
a large area of territory, including about one- vikimake 
fourth of her population, one-third of her food- peace with 
stuffs, one- third of her manufactures, and three- 
fourths of her coal and iron. It was a disgraceful treaty, 
which in the final negotiations Germany was compelled to 
renounce. In this way Russia withdrew from the war and 
was a helpless victim in the hands of her enemies. 

After the United States declared war on Germany, many 
other nations followed, either declaring war or breaking off 
diplomatic relations. Altogether twenty-eight The world 
nations, large and small, had taken part in the at war 
great struggle. So many nations became involved that it 
was estimated that eleven-twelfths of the world's popula- 
tion was engaged. The map of the world was indeed black. 

Pursuing her policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, 
Germany proceeded to launch a very destructive campaign 
in 191 7. She evidently was provided with abundant under- 
sea craft, for the amount of damage done at first was appall- 
ing. For six months vessels were destroyed three times faster 
than they could be built by the Allies. It took about a year 
for the AlHes to control the danger, and balance the building 
of ships with their destruction by submarines. 

The methods used to combat the submarines were various. 
Steel nets were sunk in channels in which the submarines 
were caught in a way similar to that by which combating 
fish are caught. Fleets of destroyers, trawlers, thesubma- 
and specially constructed boats, constantly ""^^ 
hunted the submarines and sank them on sight. Depth 
bombs were dropped after the submerging boats by de- 



512 



American History 



stroyers and low-flying aircraft. The bombs exploded near 
the submarines and crippled or destroyed them. Near the 
end of the war, the menace from the undersea boats had been 
so much reduced that ships were being built three times faster 
than they were being destroyed, and transports crossed the 
ocean in comparative safety. 

6. PREPARING FOR VICTORY 

The United States entered the war with earnestness and 
vigor. A portion of our navy was sent abroad to aid the 




© Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 
Marshal Joffre and the French Commissioners in New York 

Allies in blockading the enemy ports, and our torpedo boats 
and destroyers aided in chasing the submarines. Military 
missions from England, France, and other countries came to 
the United States to confer over the situation and arrange 
for immediate supplies in the field. The Allied world took 



The World War 513 

new hope when this great nation threw all its wealth of men 
and resources into the struggle. 

A large army was at once provided for by a selective draft, 
instead of by voluntary enlistment. The first registration 
was June 5, 191 7, followed by a second registra- xhese- 
tion a year later covering the ages from 21 to 31 lective draft 
years. In these registrations over ten and a half milhon men 
were enrolled. A third registration took place September 
12, 1918, extending the age limits from 18 to 45 years. In 
this registration over thirteen million men more were reg- 
istered. Altogether over twenty-four million men were 
registered, about one-half of the male population of the entire 
country. 

Out of this registration, and including the Regular Army 
and Navy, the Marine Corps, and the National Guard, a vast 
force of nearly five million men was selected for use during the 
war, and made ready to fight the battles of the Allies. No 
such assembling of men for warlike purposes had ever before 
been undertaken by a nation which was confessedly unpre- 
pared for war. 

To provide for the training of these men, unused to war, 
thirty-two camps and cantonments were built in different 
parts of the country, providing shelter, training campsand 
grounds, mess halls, hospitals, and supply depart- canton- 
ments for over a million and a half men at one ™®^*^ 
time. These camps and cantonments were built with unex- 
ampled speed, and as if by magic. Where one month stood 
a forest or extended a field, the next month saw a camp city 
with all its appointments, ready for the thousands of soldiers 
that began to pour in. The nation was mobilized for war, 
and the rapidity of preparation and the enthusiasm of the 
men was the wonder and admiration of the world. 



SH 



American History 



The average American soldier received six months' training 
in this country before he sailed. He had about two months' 
training overseas before he entered the battle Hne. Then he 
was assigned to a quiet sector for a month before he was given 
the full shock of battle. The training was intensive and the 
discipline severe, but the men stood it well and in the end 




Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 
The Average American Soldier Received Six Months' Training before Being 

Sent Overseas 



gave a wonderful account of themselves as soldiers of great 
courage and daring. 

The industries of the country were turned promptly to 
the manufacture of supplies and munitions of war. All 
Taking over ^^^ great powder plants, gun and shell factories 
were put in operation for the government. 
Nearly two and a half million rifles were made 
for use abroad before the production was stopped. The 



the Indus 
tries 



The World War 515 

making of machine guns on a large scale was undertaken, 
nearly a quarter of a million being turned out during the 
war. ti 

When the munition factories of the country were in full 
operation there was nevei^ any lack at any time of a full 
fighting equipment for the men overseas. As a matter of 
fact the World War was largely fought by the Allies with 
American powder and high explosives. 

The problem of feeding, clothing, and equipping an army 
of four or five million men is a serious one. A soldier needs 
everything he uses in civilian life, and in larger Feeding and 
quantities. In the matter of blankets alone the clothing the 
army used in 191 8 two and a quarter times as ^° ^^^^ 
many as the whole country produced in 19 14. In the matter 
of coats it took eight million to keep our men overseas sup- 
plied during the last year of the war. 

In the matter of food there was an increasing demand 
for the very best and most wholesome food the country could 
supply, and in sufficient quantity to keep the men in health 
and vigor. There was never a question as to the abundance 
and quality of the food supply for our men in camp or over- 
seas. The men returned generally in better health, strength, 
and vigor than they were when they entered the service. The 
whole resources of the country were put at their command. 

Having trained and equipped the men for service, the de- 
mand for them on the battle line grew daily more urgent. 
All the resources of this country and Great Britain were used 
to get the men overseas as soon as they were prepared. Dur- 
ing the nineteen months of our participation in the war, 
2,084,000 soldiers were carried from this country to France. 
Of these a million and a half were carried in six months. 
During the latter part of the war ten thousand men a day was 



5i6 



American History 



the usual rate. During July, 191 8, the number of troops car- 
ried over was 306,000. 

No such movement of troops across the ocean was consid- 
ered possible until it was done. Germany was amazed to 
know that we could actually put an army of two million fight- 
ing men in France inside a year and a half, and provide them 




© Underwood & Undir,'ooil, A . Y 
Transport Carrying American Troops 

with everything they needed. Only about three hundred 

soldiers were lost in crossing the seas. 

The large transports, loaded with thousands of men, quietly 

left the American ports and stole across the ocean 
Transport- ^ . . 

ingthe with sides painted to prevent easy recognition. 

troops over- ^t night the saihng was without hghts. On all 

sides were convoying destroyers keeping a sharp 

lookout for submarines. Every day a big ship left, and one 

landed on the other side and unloaded. It was one long 



The World War 



517 



stream of transports and supply ships safeguarded against 
danger, crossing the ocean to the surprise and chagrin of the 
lurking and alarmed foe. 

In order to conserve the food and fuel supplies of the 
country the government undertook to regulate the amount 
of food and fuel that the civil population might conserving 
use. Limits were placed on wheat, sugar, meat, food and 
and some other articles of food, and the people ^^^^ 
were asked voluntarily to abstain from eating certain foods 







WM 


^hE"** ^^^k alE 





© Underwood & Underwood , X. Y. 
The Harbor of Brest, France, Where Many of the American Troops Were 

Landed 



for one day in each week in order to provide more for the 
soldiers and the needy population in Europe. 

In the same way an administration was appointed to 
apportion the use of coal to necessary industries and for 
household consumption. In order to provide more daylight 
working hours and thereby save artificial light and coal con- 
sumption, the clocks of the country were ordered set forward 



51 8 American History 

one hour from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in 
October, at which time they were set back one hour. 

In addition to food and fuel control, the government took 
over the nearly seven hundred railroad systems of the coun- 
Takingover try as a war measure. The roads were then 
the railroads operated as one system under the direction of the 
government. Passenger service was reduced, troop trains 
were given right of way, supply trains and freight trains 
were sent by the shortest route, and the business of the coun- 
try afforded the best possible transportation facihties. The 
government remained in control of the railroads until March 
1, 1920, at which time they were turned over to their original 
owners. 

War costs vast sums of money and must be paid for. It 
can be paid by loans payable in the future, or by taxes pay- 
Paying for able at once. The government adopted both 
the war means. There were four Liberty Loan subscrip- 

tions taken during the war. The government asked for 
fourteen bilKon dollars by the sale of interest-bearing Liberty 
Bonds. The response was overwhelming, the people sub- 
scribing about eighteen billion dollars. After the armistice 
was signed a Victory Bond issue of four and a half bilhon 
dollars was also largely oversubscribed. In addition to 
the above, the Treasury Department authorized the sale of 
two billion dollars' worth of War Savings Stamps. 

The government laid taxes on incomes, and on many of 
the amusements, luxuries, and business transactions of the 
people in order to raise money for carrying on the war. These 
taxes amounted to six or seven bilHon dollars a year, about 
one-third the cost of the war. 

When the war was in full progress the cost mounted to 
nearly two million dollars an hour. The total cost to 



The World War 519 

America of the war was larger than the entire amount spent 
on running the government for the previous one hundred 
years. It would have carried on the Revolution- cost of the 
ary War for more than a thousand years, and ^^^ 
was nearly equal in value to the world's output of gold for 
the last four hundred years. 

Many organizations aided in the conduct of the war. The 
American Red Cross Society, the Young Men's Christian As- 
sociation, the Knights of Columbus, the Jewish civilian or- 
Welfare Board, the Salvation Army, the Young ganizations 
Women's Christian Association, the American ^° * ® ^^^ 
Library Association, and other organizations threw their 
resources and energies into aiding the work with the soldiers. 
In this way not only the government, but the civilian popula- 
tion, men, women, and children, who could not get to the 
front, gave their money, time, work, and thought to the com- 
fort, support, and welfare of the men who were fighting the 
battles of freedom. 

7. THE GERMAN CAMPAIGN OF 1918 

In order to make perfectly clear the war aims and peace 
terms of the United States, President Wilson addressed^ 
Congress in January, 19 18, setting forth the conditions of 
ending the war and establishing a lasting peace. These 
conditions are generally known as the " fourteen points," 
and are substantially as follows : 

I. No private understandings or secret treaties of any 
kind between nations. 2. Absolute freedom of navigation 
upon the seas alike in peace and in war. 3. The estabhsh- 
ment of an equality of trade conditions among all nations. 
4. National armaments will be reduced to the lowest point 
consistent with domestic safety. 5. The rights of the people 



520 American History 

in all colonies shall have equal weight with the rights of the 
government owning the colonies. 6. The evacuation of all 
Russian territory, and the recognition of the 
wusonsub- rights of the Russian people to govern them- 
mitsthe selves. 7. The evacuation and restoration of 

fourteen . ^ 

points or Belgium. 8. The evacuation and restoration of 

conditions of all French territory, and the return by Germany 
of Alsace-Lorraine to France. 9. The readjust- 
ment of the frontiers of Italy. lo. The people of Austria- 
Hungary shall determine for themselves their own govern- 
ment. II. Occupied territory in the Balkan states shall be 
evacuated and restored, Serbia shall have access to the sea, 
and the nations of the world shall guarantee independence 
and peace to the several Balkan states. 12. The Turkish 
rule over subject peoples shall be controlled, and the Dar- 
danelles opened for free passage to commerce. 13. An in- 
dependent Polish state shall be established. 14. A general 
league of nations for the protection of all states great and 
small alike. 

Early in 1918 it was evident that Germany was making 
preparations for a supreme effort to break through the Allied 
lines in France. Many German troops had been withdrawn 
from the east, where they were no longer needed to oppose the 
Russians. Furthermore, Germany desired to crush France 
and England before the United States could land a large and 
effective army in Europe. 

The actual direction of the German armies was placed in 
the hands of General von Ludendorff, though General von 
Hindenburg remained chief of staff. General John J. Pershing 
was the Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary 
Forces in Europe. 

The battle line extended about four hundred miles, from 



The World War 



521 



Ostend on the North Sea to the Swiss border, and more than 
three milhon men were finally engaged in mortal combat. 




Underwood & Underwood, N, Y. 
Marshal Foch 



The first German offensive movement of the year, or drive 
as it is generally called, began March 21, 1918, xhe first 
along the old battlefield of the Somme. In seven- German 
teen days the Germans had forced the British °^®^^^^® 

-^ movement 

and French back and came within twelve miles of 1918 



522 



American History 



of the city of Amiens, where large quantities of British 
supplies were stored. In this battle, known as the Picardy 
offensive, about two thousand American troops were engaged. 




Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 
Gen. John J. Pershing 



The AlHed nations now saw the wisdom of a unified com- 
mand, instead of a separate command for each army. The 
French general, Marshal Ferdinand Foch, was appointed 
Commander-in-Chief of all the AUied forces. General John J. 



The World War 523 

Pershing put his army at the disposal of Marshal Foch to be 
used wherever it was most needed. 

The second offensive movement was also directed against 
the British in Flanders, between the cities of Arras and Ypres. 
The purpose of this drive was to capture the The second 
Channel ports and prevent the landing of British offensive 
troops. Field Marshal Haig in command of the British 
forces told his men they were fighting with their backs to the 
wall, and must hold at all costs. After ten days of desperate 
encounter the advance was checked and the ports were saved. 

The third offensive of the Germans was launched May 27 
from the Aisne River, between Rheims and Soissons, and was 
directed toward Paris. In a few days the enemy The third 
had captured Soissons, had reached the Marne offensive 
River, and was advancing toward Paris. It was a critical 
period, for the Germans had gotten within forty-four miles 
of Paris. By desperate fighting and with the assistance of 
American infantry and marines, the French succeeded in 
checking the advance. The American forces held the line 
at the village of Chateau-Thierry with stubborn bravery, 
showing that they were equal in valor and endurance to the 
veteran soldiers of other nations. 

By these last drives the Germans had established two 
salients or wedges into the Allied territory, which it was their 
purpose to connect into one. Therefore, June 9, the Germans 
launched their fourth drive between Soissons and Montdidier 
along a front of twenty- two miles. The Allied army held its 
ground after the enemy had gained six miles. 

All the new methods of warfare were brought into use by 
both sides. The movement of troops was concealed by screens 
of smoke, and their advance was protected by artillery bar- 
rages. Airplanes hovered over the enemy's lines for the 



524 



American History 



purpose of observation, bombing, and giving directions for 
,. , artillery fire. Many a thrilling combat in the 

Airplanes, ^ o 

artiUery air took place between the aviators of the Allies 

barrage, ^^^ those of the enemy. Huge observation bal- 

loons were anchored, from which messages were 
sent to the batteries below. So intense was the firing and so 




ic) Underwood cfr Underwood, A', i 

A Thrilling Combat in the Air 



terrible the explosion of shells that large areas of land were 
plowed up or pitted with shell holes and craters. 



The World War 



525 



The use of long-range guns was resorted to for destroying 
railroads, depots of supplies, and bridges, and for the general 
purpose of demoralizing the troops. The Germans Long-range 
succeeded in making a long-range gun that fired a suns 
shell a distance of seventy-five miles. The war assumed a 
condition of frightfulness, for the German government was 
putting its final strength into these mighty efforts. In the 




© Undincood & Underwood, N. Y. 
American Gun on Somme Front 



meantime the United States was hurrying troops overseas 
and preparing them for the front-line trenches. 

The fifth and last offensive movement of the Germans 
began July 15, and was along a hundred-mile front east of 
Rheims and along the Marne River. It was the The fifth 
last despairing effort of an almost exhausted foe. offensive 
The AlKes were prepared for the onset and firmly held their 
ground. The Germans were blocked everywhere, their forces 
were rapidly becoming discouraged, and they were unable to 
make another attack upon the strengthening forces of the Allies. 
The second battle of the Marne was their last great effort. 



526 American History 

By this time the United States had poured into Europe 
more than a milHon and a quarter soldiers, and as the armies 
of Germany were becoming exhausted, the armies of the Allies 
were being strengthened. At the time of the last drive the 
Alhed forces were larger and better supphed than the armies 
of the Central Powers, and the tide had turned against Ger- 
many. All her offensive movements had failed, and from now 
on she had to wage a defensive warfare. 

8. THE END OF THE WAR 

After the second battle of the Marne it became evident 
that the German drives had spent their force. The offensive 
The AiUes ^^^^ passed to the Allies. July 18, 19 18, Marshal 
assume the Foch began his great counter-attacks all along the 
o ensive ^-^^^ ^j^^^ finally ended in complete disaster to the 

armies of the Central Powers. The enemy was driven back 
from point to point. Before he could recover from one blow 
another one was delivered in a different place. By the end of 
September he was driven out of all the recently acquired 
territory, retreating sullenly and devastating the country as 
he retired. 

The American forces grew more numerous with each month, 
and were moved up to the front lines and used in the final 
American battles of the war. Over a quarter of a million 
forces in of them were engaged in Foch's first offensive 

^** ® movements along the Aisne and Marne rivers. In 

September the reduction of the St. Mihiel salient was largely 
accomplished by American troops. Over a half million were 
engaged. In twenty-four hours the salient was reduced and 
the Germans were in full retreat. 

The Meuse-Argonne offensive was the largest battle in 
which the American troops engaged. Nearly a million and 



The World War 



527 



a quarter of American troops took part, the battle lasting 
forty-seven days. At the end of that time the American 
troops had penetrated the Argonne Forest, had reached the 
outskirts of Sedan, and had made the German Hne untenable. 
There were many daring exploits during the war performed 
by the intrepid soldiers of the United States. Instances of 
individual courage were numerous, in battles in the air with 
airplanes, in doing duty at sea, in the handhng of machine guns 




Sergeant York Kills Twenty Men as They Charge upon Him 



and heavy artillery, in exploring the dangerous neutral ground, 
and in actual hand-to-hand conflict with the enemy. 

Among the most notable exploits was that of Sergeant York, 
of Tennessee, who in the Argonne section found himself alone 
with a few companions facing a large number xhe exploit 
of Germans. By skillful shooting and strategy, of Sergeant 
York and his companions captured one hundred ^°^^ 
and thirty-two men, and put twenty-five machine guns out 
of action. York himself killed twenty men with his own pistol. 



528 American History 

as they charged down hill to attack him while he lay pro- 
tected behind a number of prisoners he had taken. 

By the end of September, Foch had taken a quarter of a 
million prisoners, with large quantities of supplies and mu- 
nitions, and the Germans were in retreat all along the line. 
Even the famous Hindenburg Line with its powerful defenses 
yielded to the attacks of the Allied forces and was broken 
through in the onward movement of Foch's victorious troops. 
The Germans now saw their case was hopeless. Their dreams 
of conquest had vanished. 

In the meantime disaster fell upon the Central Powers on 
the eastern front. A strong Allied offensive on the Balkan 
front brought Bulgaria to terms and that government with- 
drew from the war at the end of September. Turkey suffered 
severe defeats from^ the hands of a British army in Palestine, 
and asked for an armistice late in October. Revolution broke 
out in Austria, independent republics were set up by different 
races in her borders, and the Italians gained an overwhelming 
victory along the Piave River. Austria now deserted her 
ally and asked for peace early in November. 

Thus Germany saw her allies defeated on all fronts and 
begging for peace on any terms. Her own armies were in re- 
treat, her strongest lines of defense had been 
zation^o/ Smashed, her soldiers were demoralized, and her 

the Ger- civilian population was clamoring for an end of 

man army ^^^ ^^^ rj.^^^^ ^^^ scarcity of food and 

and people ^ -^ 

clothing, and a shortage in nearly everything 
the people needed. Millions of soldiers had been killed or 
wounded, and all the industries of the nation paralyzed. The 
war debt was already overwhelming, and victory was now 
out of the question. 

Under these conditions the German Chancellor addressed 



The World War 529 

a note to President Wilson asking for an armistice, and re- 
questing that the United States take steps to restore peace 
on the terms that the President had already laid The annis- 
down. President Wilson referred the settlement ^^^ 
of the armistice to the military advisers of the Allied Powers. 
Envoys from the German government met Marshal Foch and 
received from him the terms of an armistice, which, being ac- 
cepted November 11, 1918, brought hostilities to an end. 

The terms of the armistice were the evacuation by Germany 
of all invaded territory, including Alsace-Lorraine ; the 
surrender of large quantities of heavy and field guns, machine 
guns, airplanes, railroad equipment, and of all submarine boats ; 
the internment of a large number of warships ; the return of 
all prisoners and deported civilians ; reparation for damage 
done, and the return of all property taken away. Those 
terms made it impossible for Germany to renew the war, for 
they meant surrender of her naval forces and her army equip- 
ment, and the withdrawal of her troops to her own territory. 

About the time the armistice was accepted the German 
Emperor formally abdicated his throne, and took refuge in 
Holland. Germany was thus left at the most critical period 
of her history to form a new government of a republican 
character to deal with the perplexing problems of peace. 

In order to settle definitely the terms of peace with Germany 
and her allies, a Peace Conference of delegates from all the 
Allied nations was held at Versailles, near Paris, The Peace 
beginning in February, 1919. President Wilson Conference 
felt it to be his duty to attend this conference in person, as 
the leading member of the delegation from the United States. 
After months of deliberation a formal agreement was reached 
between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany, 
and signed at Versailles, June 28, 1919, making a treaty of 



530 American History- 

peace with Germany which materially changed the boundaries 
of that country, compelled the payment of immense in- 
demnities, and demanded reparation for the destruction 
caused by her armies. Similar terms were offered Austria. 

The treaty of peace contained provisions for the establish- 
ment of a League of Nations, the purpose of which is to pre- 
vent war by the limitation of armaments, and the reference 
of disputes to an international tribunal, and the uniting of 
all nations into an agreement in so far as possible to preserve 
peace and avoid the unnecessary horrors and havoc of warfare. 

Thus we see that our country has grown in three hundred 
years from a small colony to a noble and mighty nation, 
taking- rank as one of the great powers of the world. We 
have surveyed the early struggle for liberty, the mighty 
conflict with the mother country, the growth of our institu- 
tions, the sad tragedy of our Civil War, and have seen, in 
later years and in the great conflict of many nations where 
we bore our part so nobly, that our people have become one 
people, with one patriotism, one purpose, and one destiny. 
With our hearts united in a great love for our country, let us 
say that we are, first of all, Americans, and that our whole 
country shall claim our patriotic service. 

TOPICS 

Europe before the World War, The Franco-Prussian War; in- 
demnity . paid by France;] Alsace-Lorraine. Progress of the German 
Empire. German military system; military preparation; getting 
ready for war. German ambition for territory ; for trade ; for a Ber- 
lin-to-Bagdad railway; for world power. Militarism in Europe. 
Triple Alliance. Triple Entente. Hague Conference of 1899 and re- 
sults. Hague Conventions of 1907. 

How the World War Began. The accusations against Germany. 
The Serbs and Slavic races and Austria. Assassination of Francis Fer- 



The World War 531 

dinand and his wife. The ultimatum to Serbia and the reply. Dec- 
laration of war on Serbia, Mobilizing troops ; Russia's action, Ger- 
many's demands and declarations of war. Germany's plan of war; 
reasons for invading Luxemburg and Belgium. Violating the treaties 
of neutrality. Advance into Belgium, Great Britain enters the war. 
Belgium overrun and France invaded. First battle of the Marne. 

Progress of the War, Fighting in Flanders. The Russians de- 
feated in East Prussia ; success in Galicia. War declared against Tur- 
key. Blockading the German fleet ; destroying the raiders ; capturing 
the colonies. German ravages in occupied territory; deporting the 
Belgians ; trench warfare. 

Two Years of Conflict. Poison gas; gas masks. The Gallipoli 
campaign. Campaigns on the eastern front. Bulgaria enters the 
war; invasion of Serbia. Blockades and war zones. Submarine war- 
fare. Sinking the Lusitania. Italy enters the war. Attack on Ver- 
dun; the result. Battle of the Somme, The tanks. Roumania 
enters the war. 

The United States Enters the War. Germany's note of unrestricted 
warfare; action of President Wilson. Address to Congress, February 
26. The Zimmermann Note. President Wilson's war message to Con- 
gress ; advice to Congress ; the purpose of the United States. Declara- 
tion of war. Conditions in Russia. Abdication of the Czar ; the revolu- 
tionists ; execution of the Czar. The Bolsheviki ; peace of Brest-Litovsk. 
Extent of the war. Destructive submarine warfare; combating the 
submarines. 

Preparing for Victory. First steps taken. The selective drafts; 
men registered; the size of the army selected. Camps and canton- 
ments ; training the soldiers. Using the industrial plants of the coun- 
try. Feeding, clothing, and equipping the soldiers. Getting the men 
overseas; transports. Conserving food; coal; daylight-saving law. 
Taking over the railroads. The Liberty Loans; other sources of 
revenue. Cost of war. Organizations that aided in the war. 

The German Campaign of 1918. President Wilson's fourteen points. 
Germany's plans for the year. The Picardy offensive. Marshal Foch 
in command. The drive in Flanders. The drive on Paris ; the Ameri- 
can forces at Chateau-Thierry. The fourth drive. The second battle 
of the Marne. Modern methods of warfare ; smoke screens ; airplanes ; 
balloons ; long-range guns. Turning of the tide against the Germans. 



532 American History 

The End of the War. Foch begins his counter-attacks; retreat of 
the Germans. American forces in battle. St. Mihiel salient. Meuse- 
Argonne offensive. Exploit of Sergeant York. Condition at end of 
September, 19 18. Disaster to the Central Powers on the eastern front. 
Bulgaria; Turkey; Austria. Condition of the German army and 
terms of the armistice. Abdication of the German Emperor. The 
Peace Conference ; the Treaty of Peace. The League of Nations. 

SUBJECTS FOR STUDY 

What dangers and hardships attend large military preparations? 
In what way could Germany have prevented the war? Discuss the 
invasion of Belgium and the violation of the treaties. Discuss the use 
of poison gas, fire, and other methods of inflicting death by painful 
means. What is your opinion of the right of Germany to sink neutral 
vessels in war zones? What were the reasons that made the United 
States enter the war? What influence did the United States have on 
the final result ? What advantages or disadvantages will result from a 
League of Nations? 

COMPOSITION 

Write a description of the devastation in Belgium and France by a 

supposed eyewitness. 

Write the experience of a soldier going " over the top." 

If you had been on the Lusitania, describe your experience and the 

way you were rescued. 

MAP QUESTIONS 

Locate Liege; Louvain; the Marne River. Trace the line of the 
farthest German advance. Locate Galicia. Name the Balkan states. 
Name the principal cities on the eastern front that became conspicuous 
during the war. Locate the Gallipoli Peninsula ; Constantinople ; Ver- 
dun ; Soissons ; Rheims ; Amiens. At what place was the Treaty of 
Peace signed? 

Collateral Reading. The literature of the World War is so abundant 
and so easy of access that the student is referred to any library or cata- 
logue, where he will find material to satisfy his inquiry upon any phase 
of the great struggle. Many publishers of schoolbooks have issued 
short accounts of the war that will be interesting to children. 



APPENDIX 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

The Old World. Describe the ancient Teutons. What is meant 
by the Middle Ages? Describe the visit of the Norsemen to Vinland. 
Name the classes of people in the Middle Ages. In what did the lords 
and barons live? Describe the life of the peasants. How did the 
towns begin? What is meant by "free cities"? What was the in- 
fluence of the church in the Middle Ages? What were the occupations 
of the monks? What were the Crusades? Describe the adventures of 
Marco Polo. 

Discovering and Exploring the New World. When and where was 
Columbus born ? Tell some incidents of his early life and of his disap- 
pointments. Name the three vessels, the port, and date of departure, 
of the voyage of discovery. When and where was land first discovered ? 
Describe the voyage of John Cabot. For whom was America named? 
How and by whom was the Pacific Ocean discovered? What were the 
adventures of Magellan ? 

Early Colonies in the New World. By whom and when was Florida 
discovered? Describe the wanderings of De Soto. What settlements 
in America were made by the French? Describe the Spanish Armada 
and its fate. Where was Raleigh's first colony planted and what was 
its fate? Describe Raleigh's second colony. Name the two English 
companies that received grants of land in America. Describe some of 
the adventures of John Smith. What was the "Starving Time"? 
When and where was slavery introduced into America? When and 
where did the Pilgrims settle ? 

Later Colonies in the New World. By whom was New York first 
settled? Who was Peter Stuyvesant? By whom was Maryland 
founded? How did that State get its name? By whom were the 
Carolinas settled? Describe the character and purpose of Oglethorpe. 
When was Savannah founded ? 

Establishment of the English. Who were the Cavaliers and where 
did they settle? Describe Bacon's Rebellion. Who was John Eliot? 

533 



534 American History 

What was the fate of King Philip ? Describe the exploit of Colonel 
Goffe. How was the charter of Connecticut saved? What two French- 
men first explored the Mississippi? Describe the voyage of La Salle 
and the naming of Louisiana. Describe the journey of George Wash- 
ington to the French settlement. Describe the defeat of Braddock. 
Describe the capture of Quebec. 

Life in the Colonies. What were the three forms of government of 
the colonies in America? Describe the New England township. De- 
scribe court days in the Southern Colonies. Describe the pioneer's 
home. What were some of the early customs in New York? What 
were the industries in New England? What were the industries of 
the South? Describe the stocks and the pillory. Describe early travel 
by stagecoach. When and where was Harvard College founded ? How 
were servants procured for the colonies ? Describe the slave trade. 

The Revolutionary War. What were the Navigation Acts? De- 
scribe the speech of James Otis. Describe the character of George HI. 
What was the Stamp Act? Describe the speech of Patrick Henry. 
What was the Boston Tea Party? Describe the battle of Lexington. 
Describe the battle of Bunker Hill. When and where was the Declara- 
tion of Independence signed? Describe the battle of Trenton. De- 
scribe the winter at Valley Forge. Describe the bravery of Marion 
and Sumter. Describe the treason of Benedict Arnold. Describe the 
surrender of CornwaUis. 

Establishing the Nation. What were the limited powers of the 
Continental Congress? Give the seven reasons why a better imion of 
the States was necessary? When and where was the Constitution of 
the United States made? Name the three departments of the govern- 
ment and define the purpose of each. What were the first two political 
parties and in what did each one believe? How did the capital of the 
United States get its present location ? What was the X. Y. Z Affair ? 
Describe the exploit of Stephen Decatur in the war with Tripoli. When 
and for what amount was Louisiana purchased ? Describe the ex- 
plorations of Lewis and Clark. What was the cause of the War of 1812 ? 
What is meant by the Era of Good Feeling? What was the Missouri 
Compromise? What is the Monroe Doctrine? 

The Progress of the Nation. Describe travel in early days. What 
was the condition of free schools in 1825? What brought about the 
industrial revolution in England? Who was Samuel Slater? De- 



Review Questions 535 

scribe the invention of the cotton gin. Describe the work of Robert 
Fulton in perfecting the steamboat. Describe the voyage of the Sa- 
vannah. Describe the Erie Canal. What was the beginning of rail- 
roads in America? Describe the Santa Fe and the Oregon trails. 

Sectional Interests and Discords. Describe the inauguration of 
Andrew Jackson. What is meant by the Spoils System ? What brought 
about the disputes on the tariff? Describe the debate between Hayne 
and Webster. What was the Nullification Ordinance of South Carolina ? 
What was the Force Bill? Describe Clay's Compromise. Describe 
the Massacre at the Alamo. What brought about the war with Mexico ? 
What were the terms of the treaty of peace with Mexico? What was 
the Wilmot Proviso ? Describe the invention of the harvester ; of the 
electric telegraph; of vulcanized rubber. Describe the discovery of 
painless surgery. Describe the discovery of gold in Cahfornia. What 
was the Compromise of 1850? What was the Kansas War? What 
was the Dred Scott Decision? What was John Brown's Raid? 

The Civil War. Name the Southern States that seceded from the 
Union. Give their reasons for seceding. Describe the bombardment 
of Fort Sumter. Describe the first battle of Manassas. What was the 
effect of the surrender of New Orleans? What was the Trent Affair? 
Describe the cruise of the Alabama. What were the Alabama Claims? 
Describe the battle of the ironclads. What was the Proclamation of 
Emancipation? Describe the death of Stonewall Jackson. Describe 
the battle of Gettysburg. Describe the March to the Sea. Tell the 
story of Lee's surrender. When, where, and by whom was Lincoln 
assassinated ? 

Reconstruction and Expansion. What was Lincoln's policy toward 
the Southern States? What was the Thirteenth Amendment? What 
was the Fourteenth Amendment? What was the Fifteenth Amend- 
ment? Describe the Ku-Klux Klan. When was the Centennial 
Exposition? What was the Civil Service Reform Act? What caused 
the war with Spain? Describe the battle of Manila Bay. What were 
the terms of the treaty of peace ? 

Enterprises, Inventions, and Industries. Describe the laying of the 
Atlantic cable. Describe the building of the Panama Canal. Who 
discovered the North Pole? Describe the enterprise of Thomas A. 
Edison. Who invented the telephone? What benefit has arisen from 
wireless telegraphy? To what extent has the automobile industry 



536 American History 

grown? Describe the progress of airplane improvements. When was 
the first Pacific railway. completed? Describe the opening of Oklahoma. 
The World War. Describe the military system of Germany. What 
were the wants of Germany? What was the Triple Alliance? The 
Triple Entente? Describe the Hague Conferences. How did the 
World War begin? Describe the invasion of Belgium. Why did Eng- 
land enter the war? Describe the devastation of Belgium and northern 
France. Describe trench warfare. Describe the submarine activity 
of Germany. Describe the sinking of the Lusitania. What are tanks? 
When did the United States enter the war and why? Describe the 
selective draft. How many soldiers did the United States send to 
Europe ? What warlike measures were undertaken in the United States ? 
What was the cost of the war ? What brought about the demoralization 
of the German army ? When was the armistice signed ? What was the 
result of the Peace Conference? 



IMPORTANT DATES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 



Columbus discovers America, 
Oct. 12, 1492. 

John Cabot discovers the main- 
land, 1497. 

Ponce de Leon names Florida, 

1513. 
Balboa discovers the Pacific, 1513. 
Magellan's ship starts around the 

world, 1 519. 
De Soto discovers the Mississippi, 

1541- 

Jamestown, Virginia, settled, 1607. 

Hudson discovers the Hudson 
River, 1609. 

Negro slaves brought to Vir- 
ginia, 1619. 

Pilgrims land at Plymouth, 
Dec. 21, 1620. 

Boston founded, 1630. 

Harvard College founded, 1636. 

Roger Williams founds Provi- 
dence, 1636. 

English capture New Amsterdam, 
1664, 

Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia, 
1676. 

Philadelphia laid out, 1683. 

Witchcraft delusion, 1692. 

William and Mary College 
founded, 1693. 

New Orleans founded by French, 
1718. 

Baltimore founded, 1730. 

Oglethorpe settles Georgia, 1733. 

Braddock's defeat, 1755. 



The Fall of Quebec, 1759. 

The Stamp Act, 1765. 

The Boston Massacre, March 5, 

1770. 
The Boston Tea Party, Dec. 16, 

1773- 
First Continental Congress 

meets, Sept. 5, 1774. 
Battle of Lexington, April 19, 

1775- 
Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 

1775- 
Washington takes command, 

July 3, 1775. 
Declaration of Independence, 

July 4, 1776. 
Battle of Trenton, Dec. 26, 1776. 
Surrender of Burgoyne, Oct. 17, 

1777. 
Winter at Valley Forge, 1777. 
The French Alliance, Feb., 1778. 
George Rogers Clark takes Vin- 

cennes, 1779. 
Arnold's treason, September, 

1780. 
Cornwallis surrenders, Oct. 19, 

1781. 
Treaty of Paris, Sept. 3, 1785. 
Constitutional Convention, 1787. 
Washington inaugurated, April 

30, 1789. 
Whitney invents cotton gin, 1793. 
Death of Washington, Dec. 14, 

1799. 
Washington becomes capital, 1800. 



537 



538 



American History 



Thos. Jefferson becomes Presi- 
dent, 1801. 

Louisiana purchased, 1803. 

Fulton perfects steamboat, 1807. 

The Embargo Act, 1807. 

Second War with England, 181 2. 

British capture city of Wash- 
ington, August, 1814. 

Treaty of Ghent, Dec. 24, 1814. 

Battle of New Orleans, Jan. 8, 
1815. 

The Savannah crosses the ocean, 
1819. 

Florida bought from Spain, 18 19. 

The Missouri Compromise, 182 1. 

The Monroe Doctrine an- 
nounced, 1823. 

The visit of Lafayette, 1824. 

The Erie Canal opened, 1825. 

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad begun, 
1828. 

Andrew Jackson inaugurated, 
1829. 

Hayne and Webster Debate, 
1830. 

Nullification Ordinance of South 
Carolina, 1832. 

McCormick invents the reaper, 

1834. 

Texas declares her independence, 
1836. 

First electric telegraph mes- 
sage. May 24, 1844. 

Annexation of Texas, 1845. 

Wilmot Proviso, August, 1846. 

Howe invents sewing machine, 
1846. 

City of Mexico captured, 1847. 

Gold discovered in California, 
January, 1848. 



Fugitive Slave law passed, 1850. 

Gadsden Purchase, 1853. 

First Atlantic cable, August, 

1858. 
South Carolina secedes, Dec. 20, 

i860. 
Fort Sumter bombarded, April 

12, 1861. 
First battle of Manassas, July 

21, 1861. 
The Trent Affair, November, 

1861. 
The first battle of ironclads, 

March 9, 1862. 
Farragut captures New Or- 
leans, April, 1862. 
Emancipation Proclamation, Jan. 

I, 1863. 
Battle of Gettysburg, July, 1863. 
Surrender of Vicksburg, July 4, 

1863. 
Kearsarge sinks the Alabama, June, 

1864. 
Surrender of Lee, April 9, 1865. 
Lincoln assassinated, April 14, 

1865. 
Centennial Exposition, 1876. 
Maine destroyed at Havana, 

February, 1898. 
Battle of Manila Bay, May i, 

1898. 
Destruction of Cervera's fleet, 

July 3, 1898. 
Treaty with Spain, Dec. 10, 1898. 
War declared with Germany, April 

7, 1917- 
Armistice in World War, Nov. 11, 

1918. 
National Prohibition, effective, 

Jan. 16, 1920. 



List of Presidents and Vice-Presidents 539 



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540 



American History 



LIST OF STATES 



1. Delaware 

2 . Pennsylvania 

3. New Jersey 

4. Georgia 

5. Connecticut 

6. Massachusetts. . 

7. Maryland 

8. South Carolina. 

9. New Hampshire. 

10. Virginia 

11. New York 

12. North Carolina. 

13. Rhode Island. . . 

14. Vermont 

15. Kentucky 

16. Tennessee 

17. Ohio 

18. Louisiana 

19. Indiana 

20. Mississippi 

21. Illinois 

22. Alabama 

23. Maine 

24. Missouri 

25. Arkansas 

26. Michigan 

27. Florida 

28. Texas 

29. Iowa 

30. Wisconsin 

31. California.. 

32. Minnesota 

33. Oregon 

34. Kansas 

35. West Virginia. . . . 

36. Nevada 

37. Nebraska 

38. Colorado 

39- North Dakota . . . . 

40. South Dakota . . . . 

41. Montana... 

42. Washington 

43. Idaho 

44. Wyoming 

4S- Utah 

46. Oklahoma 

47. New Mexico 

48. Arizona 



.P o 



DATE OF ad- 
mission 



Dec 
Dec 
Dec 

Jan. 
Jan. 
Feb 



1787 
1787 
1787 
1788 
1788 
1788 
April 28, 1788 
1788 
1788 
1788 



18, 
2, 
9, 
6, 



May 
June 
June 
July 



23, 
21, 
25, 
26, 



Nov. 21, 

May 29, 
March 4, 

June I, 

June I, 

Feb. 19, 

April 8, 

Dec. II, 

Dec. 10, 



Dec. 


,^, 


Dec. 


14. 


March 


15, 


Aug. 


10, 


June 


15, 


Jan. 


26, 


March 


3, 


Dec. 


29, 


Dec. 


28, 


May 


29, 


Sept. 


9. 


May 


II. 


Feb. 


14, 


Jan. 


29, 


June 


19, 


Oct. 


M, 


March i, 


Aug. 


I, 


Nov. 


3, 


Nov. 


3, 


Nov. 


8, 


Nov. 


II. 


July 


3, 


July 


10, 


Jan. 


4, 


Nov. 


16, 


.Tan. 


6, 


Feb. 


14. 



1789 
1790 
I79I 
1792 
1796 
1803 
I8I2 
I8I6 
I8I7 
I8I8 
I8I9 
1820 
I82I 

1836 
1837 
1845 
1845 
1846 
1848 
1850 
1858 
1859 
I86I 
1863 

1864 
1867 
1876 



1890 

1896 
1907 

I9I2 
I9I2 



square 

MILES 



POPULATION 
1910 



2,050 

45,215 

7,8is 

59,475 

4,990 

8,315 

12,210 

30,570 

9,30s 

42,450 

49,170 

52,250 

1,250 

9,565 

40,400 

42,050 

41 ,060 

48,720 

36,350 

46,810 

56,650 

52,250 

33,040 

69,415 

53,850 

58,915 

58,680 

265,780 
56,025 
56,040 

158,360 
83,36s 
96,030 
82,080 
24,780 

110,700 
77,510 

103,925 
70,795 
77,650 

146,080 
69,180 
84,800 
97,890 
84,970 
70,430 

122,580 

113,020 



202,322 

7,665,111 

2,537,167 

2,609,121 

1,114,756 

3,366,416 

1,295,346 

1,515,409 

430,572 

2,061,612 

9,113,279 

2,206,287 

542,610 

355.956 

2,289,905 

2,184,789 

4,767,121 

1,656,388 

2,700,876 

1,797,114 

5,638,591 

2,138,093 

742,371 

3,293,335 

1,574,449 

2,810,173 

752,619 

3,896,542 

2,224,771 

2,333,860 

2,377,549 

2,075,768 

672,765 

1,690,949 

1,221,119 

81,875 

1,192,214 

799,024 

577,065 

583,888 

376,053 

1,141,990 

325,594 

145,965 

373,351 

1,657,15s 

327,301 

204,354 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, ADOPTED BY 
CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 

A DECLARATION BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
AMERICA, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one 
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with 
another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and 
equal stations to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle 
them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they 
should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold thbse truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ; 
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; 
that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; that, to 
secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their 
just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form 
of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the 
people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its 
foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as 
to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Pru- 
dence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be 
changed for light and transient causes ; and, accordingly, all experience 
hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are 
sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they 
are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pur- 
suing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under 
absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such a 
government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such 
has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies ; and such is now the 
necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of govern- 
ment. The history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of 
repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the estabhsh- 
ment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be 
submitted to a candid world : — 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome, and necessary 
for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing 

541 



542 American History 

importance, unless suspended in their operations, till his assent should be 
obtained ; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to 
them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large dis- 
tricts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of repre- 
sentation in the legislature ; a right inestimable to them, and formidable 
to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, imcom- 
fortable, and distant from the repository of their public records, for the 
sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly for opposing, with 
manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others 
to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, 
have returned to the people at large, for their exercise ; the State remain- 
ing, in the mean time, exposed to all the dangers of invasions from with- 
out, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States ; for that 
purpose, obstructing the laws for the naturalization of foreigners ; refus- 
ing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the 
conditions of new appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice by refusing his assent 
to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their 
offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new officers, and sent hither swarms of 
officers, to harass our people, and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the 
consent of our legislature. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, 
the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to 
our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws ; giving his assent to 
their acts of pretended legislation : — 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us ; 

For protecting them, by mock trial, from pimishment for any murders 
which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States ; 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world ; 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent ; 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury ; 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses ; 



Declaration of Independence 543 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, 
establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, 
so as to render it at once an example and fit instrmnent for introducing the 
same absolute rule into these Colonies ; 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and 
altering, fundamentally, the powers of our government ; 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested 
with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protec- 
tion, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and 
destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to 
complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with 
circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most bar- 
barous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, 
to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their 
friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored 
to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, 
whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, 
sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress in 
the most humble terms ; our repeated petitions have been answered only 
by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every 
act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We 
have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legislature to 
extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them 
of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have 
appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured 
them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations 
which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. 
They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. 
We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our 
separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in 
war ; in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States oe America, 
in general congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the 
world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the 



544 American History- 

authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly publish and 
declare, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, Free and 
Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British 
Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of 
Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as Free and 
Independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, con- 
tract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things which 
Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declara- 
tion, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we 
mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 

John Hancock, 

New Hampshire. — Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew 
Thornton. 

Massachusetts Bay. — Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat 
Paine, Elbridge Gerry. 

Rhode Island, etc. — Stephen Hopkins, William EUery. 

Connecticut. — Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William 
Williams, Oliver Wolcott. 

New York. — William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis 
Morris. 

New Jersey. — Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hop- 
kinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark. 

Pennsylvania. — Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, 
John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James 
Wilson, George Ross. 

Delaware. — Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas M'Kean. 

Maryland. — Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles 
Carroll of CarroUton. 

Virginia. — George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, 
Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter 
Braxton. 

North Carolina. — William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn. 

South Carolina. — Edward Rutledge, Thomas Hayward Jr., Thomas 
Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton. 

Georgia. — Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 

Preamble 

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect 
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the 
common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings 
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this 
Constitution for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE L— LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT 

Section i. — Congress 

All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of 
the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

Section 2. — House of Representatives 

The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen 
every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors in 
each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most 
numerous branch of the State Legislature. 

No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the 
age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United 
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in 
which he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the 
several States which may be included within this Union, according to 
their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the 
whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a 
term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other 
persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after 
the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every 
subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. 
The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty 
thousand, but each State shall have at least one representative : and until 
such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be 

545 



546 American History- 

entitled to choose three ; Massachusetts, eight ; Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations, one ; Connecticut, five ; New York, six ; New Jersey, 
four ; Pennsylvania, eight ; Delaware, one ; Maryland, six j Virginia, ten ; 
North Carolina, five ; South Carolina, five ; and Georgia, three. 

When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the 
executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such 
vacancies. 

The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other 
officers ; and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

Section 3. — Senate 

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators 
from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six years ; and 
each senator shall have one vote. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first 
election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. 
The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expira- 
tion of the second year ; of the second class, at the expiration of the fourth 
year ; of the third class, at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one- 
third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by 
resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any State, 
the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next 
meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 

No person shaU be a senator who shaU not have attained to the age of 
thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who 
shaU not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall 
be chosen. 

The Vice President of the United States shall be president of the Senate, 
but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 

The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president pro 
tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise 
the office of President of the United States. 

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments : When 
sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the 
President of the United States is tried, the Chief -Justice shall preside : 
and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of 
the members present. 



The Constitution 547 

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to 
removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of 
honor, trust, or profit under the United States ; but the party convicted 
shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment 
and punishment, according to law. 

Section 4. — Both Houses 

The times, places, g^nd manner of holding elections for senators and 
representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature 
thereof ; but the Congress may at any time, by law, make or alter such 
regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators. 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such 
meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by 
law appoint a different day. 

Section 5. — The Houses Separately 

Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and quali- 
fications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a 
quorum to do business ; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to 
day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, 
in such manner, and under such penalties, as each house may provide. 

Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its 
members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, 
expel a member. 

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to 
time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment 
require secrecy, and the yeas and nays of the members of either house 
on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered 
on the journal. 

Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the con- 
sent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place 
than that in which the two houses shall be sitting. 

Section 6. — Privileges and Disabilities of Members 

_ The senators and representatives shall receive a compensation for 
their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the 
United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony, and 
breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at 



•548 American History 

the session of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from 
the same ; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be 
questioned in any other place. 

No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was 
elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United 
States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall 
have been increased, during such time ; and no person holding any office 
under the United States shall be a member of either house during his 
continuance in office. 

Section 7. — Method of passing Laws 

All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Repre- 
sentatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as 
on other bills. ^ 

Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and 
the Senate shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President 
of the United States ; if he approve, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall 
return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have origi- 
nated, who shall enter the objections at lai:ge on their journal, and pro- 
ceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that 
house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objec- 
tions, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and 
if approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all 
such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, 
and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered 
on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned 
by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have 
been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he 
had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, 
in which case it shall not be a law. 

Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate 
and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of 
adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States ; 
and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being 
disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations pre- 
scribed in the case of a bill. 



The Constitution 549 



Section 8. — Powers granted to Congress 

The Congress shall have power : 

To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts 
and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United 
States ; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout 
the United States ; 

To borrow money on the credit of the United States ; 

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several 
States, and with the Indian tribes ; 

To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on 
the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ; 

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and 
fix the standard of weights and measures ; 

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and 
current coin of the United States ; 

To establish post-offices and post-roads ; 

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing, for 
limited times, to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respec- 
tive writings and discoveries ; 

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ; 

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, 
and offenses against the law of nations ; 

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules 
concerning captures on land and water; 

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that 
use shall be for a longer term than two years ; 

To provide and maintain a navy ; 

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and 
naval forces ; 

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, 
suppress insurrections and repel invasions. 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and 
for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the 
United States, reserving to the States respectively the appointment of 
the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the 
discipline prescribed by Congress ; 



550 American History 

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such 
district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular 
States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the govern- 
ment of the United States, and to exercise like authority over aU places 
purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the 
same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, 
and other needful buildings ; — And 

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying 
into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this 
Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any depart- 
ment or officer thereof. 

Section 9. — Powers forbidden to the United States 

The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now 
existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Con- 
gress prior to the year one thousand eight himdred and eight, but a tax 
or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars 
for each person. 

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, 
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may 
require it. 

No bill of attainder or ex-post-facto law shall be passed. 

No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to 
the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken. 

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. 

No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or rev- 
enue to the ports of one State over those of another ; nor shall vessels 
bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties 
in another. 

No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of 
appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and accoimt of the 
receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from 
time to time. 

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States : And no 
person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the 
consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, 
of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. 



The Constitution 551 

Section 10. — Powers forbidden to the States 

No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation ; grant 
letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of credit ; make 
anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any 
bill of attainder, ex-post-facto law, or law impairing the obligation of 
contracts, or grant any title of nobility. 

No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts 
or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely neces- 
sary for executing its inspection laws ; and the net produce of all duties 
and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use 
of the treasury of the United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to 
the revision and control of the Congress. 

No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of ton- 
nage, keep troops, or ships-of-war, in time of peace, enter into any agree- 
ment or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage 
in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not 
admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II.— EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 

Section i. — President and Vice President 

The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States 
of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, 
together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected, 
as follows : 

Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof 
may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators 
and representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress : 
but no senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or 
profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector. 

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot 
for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the 
same State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons 
voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list they shall sign 
and certify and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United 
States, directed to the president of the Senate. The president of the 



552 American History- 

Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, 
open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person 
having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number 
be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if there be 
more than one who have such majority, and have an equal mmiber of 
votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by 
ballot one of them for President ; and if no person have a majority, then 
from the five highest on the list the said house shall, in like manner, choose 
the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken 
by States, the representation from each State having one vote ; a quorum 
for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds 
of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. 
In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the 
greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice President. 
But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate 
shall choose from them by ballot the Vice President. 

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the 
day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same 
throughout the United States. 

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United 
States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible 
to the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that office 
who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been 
fourteen years resident within the United States. 

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, 
resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said 
office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress 
may bylaw provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, 
both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then 
act as President; and such officer shall act accordingly until the dis- 
ability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a com- 
pensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the 
period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive 
within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any 
of them. 

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the follow- 
ing oath or affirmation: — ''I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will 



The Constitution 553 

faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, 
to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution 
of the United States." 



Section 2. — Powers of the President 

The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of 
the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called 
into the actual service of the United States ; he may require the opinion, 
in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, 
upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices ; and he 
shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the 
United States, except in cases of impeachment. 

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present concur; 
and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, 
judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, 
whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which 
shall be established by law : but the Congress may by law vest the appoint- 
ment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, 
in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen 
during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall 
expire at the end of their next session. 



Section 3. — Duties of the President 

He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the 
state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures 
as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary 
occasions, convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of dis- 
agreement between them with respect to the time of adjournment, he 
may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive 
ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws 
be faithfidly executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United 
States. 



554 American History 

Section 4. — Impeachment 

The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States, 
shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, 
treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III.— JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT 

Section i. — United States Courts 

The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme 
Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to 
time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior 
courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated 
times, receive for their services a compensation which shall not be 
diminished during their continuance in office. 

Section 2. — Jurisdiction of United States Courts 

The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising 
under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made 
or which shall be made, under their authority ; — to all cases affecting 
ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls ; — to all cases of 
admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; — to controversies to which the 
United States shall be a party ; — to controversies between two or more 
States ; — between a State and citizens of another State ; — between 
citizens of different States ; — between citizens of the same State claim- 
ing lands under grants of different States, and between a State, or the 
citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects. 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, 
and those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have 
original jurisdiction. In all other cases before mentioned, the Supreme 
Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such 
exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by 
jury ; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall 
have been committed ; but when not committed within any State, the trial 
shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. 



The Constitution 555 

Section 3. — Treason 

Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war 
against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and 
comfort. 

No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two 
witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. 

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, 
but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, 
except during the life of the person attainted. 



ARTICLE IV. — RELATIONS OF THE STATES TO EACH 

OTHER 

Section i. — Official Acts 

Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, 
records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress 
may by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, 
and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Section 2. — Privileges of Citizens 

The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immuni- 
ties of citizens in the several States. 

A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who 
shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand 
of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered 
up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 

No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, 
escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation 
therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered 
up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. 

Section 3. — New States and Territories 

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ; but no 
new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other 
State ; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or 



556 American History 

parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States 
concerned as well as of the Congress. 

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make aU needful 
rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging 
to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so con- 
strued as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any partic- 
ular State. 

Section 4. — Protection of the States 

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a 
republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against 
invasion, and on application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when 
the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence. 

ARTICLE v.— AMENDMENTS 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it neces- 
sary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the appli- 
cation of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a 
convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be 
valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified 
by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by conven- 
tions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification 
may be proposed by the Congress ; provided that no amendment which 
may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight 
shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section 
of the first article ; and that no State, without its consent, shall be de- 
prived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. — GENERAL PROVISIONS 

All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, before the adop- 
tion of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States imder 
this Constitution, as under the confederation. 

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be 
made in pursuance thereof ; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, 
under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the 
land ; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in 
the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members 
of the several State Legislatures^ and all executive and judicial officers, 



The Constitution 



557 



both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by 
oath or affirmation to support this Constitution ; but no religious test shall 
ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the 
United States. 

ARTICLE VII. — RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION 



The ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for 
the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the 
same. 

Done in convention, by the unanimous consent of the States 
present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the 
independence of the United States of America the twelfth. 
In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON, 

President, and Deputy from Virginia 



New Hampshire 
John Langdon 
Nicholas Oilman 

Massachusetts 
Nathaniel Gorham 
Rurus King 

Connecticut 
William Samuel Johnson 
Roger Sherman 

New York 
Alexander Hamilton 

New Jersey 
William Livingston 
David Brearley 
William Paterson 
Jonathan Dayton 

Pennsylvania 
Benjamin Franklin 
Thomas Mieflin 
Robert Morris 
George Clymer 
Thomas Fitzsimons 
Jared Ingersoll 
James Wilson 
gouverneur morris 
Attest: WILLIAM JACKSON, 



Delaware 
George Read 
Gunning Bedford, Jr. 
John Dickinson 
Richard Bassett 
Jacob Broom 

Maryland 
James M'Henry 
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer 
Daniel Carroll 

Virginia 
John Blair 
James Madison, Jr. 

North Carolina 
William Blount 
Richard Dobbs Spaight 
Hugh Williamson 

South Carolina 
John Rutledge 
Charles C. Pinckney 
Charles Pinckney 
Pierce Butler 

Georgia 
William Few 
Abraham Baldwin 
Secretary. 



558 American History 



AMENDMENTS 

Article I. — Congress shall make no law respecting an establish- 
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ; or abridging the 
freedom of speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to 
assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievances. 

Article II. — A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security 
of a free State the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be 
infringed. 

Article III. — No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any 
house, without the consent of the owner ; nor in time of war but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law. 

Article IV. — The right of the people to be secure in their persons, 
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable 
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the 
place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

Article V. — No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or 
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a 
grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the 
militia, when in actual service in time of war and public danger ; nor shall 
any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of 
life or limb ; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness 
against himself, nor to be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due 
process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use, with- 
out just compensation. 

Article VI. — In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy 
the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State 
and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district 
shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the 
nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses 
against him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his 
favor, and to have the assistance of coimsel for his defense. 

Article VII. — In suits at common law, where the value in con- 
troversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be 
preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in 
any court of the United States than according to the rules of common law* 



The Constitution 559 

Article VIII. — Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive 
fines imposed, nor cruel and miusual punishments inflicted. 

Article IX, — The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights 
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

Article X. — The powers not delegated to the United States by the 
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States 
respectively, or to the people. 

Article XI. — The judicial power of the United States shall not be 
construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prose- 
cuted against any of the United States by citizens of another State, or by 
citizens or subjects of any foreign state. 

Article XII. — The electors shall meet in their respective States, and 
vote by ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, 
shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves ; they shall 
name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct 
ballots the person voted for as Vice President ; and they shall make 
distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons 
voted for as Vice President, and of the number of votes for each, which 
list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the 
government of the United States, directed to the president of the Senate ; 
— the president of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then 
be counted ; — the person having the greatest number of votes for Presi- 
dent, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole 
nimiber of electors appointed ; and if no person have such majority, then 
from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the 
list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall 
choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the Presi- 
dent, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State 
having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or 
members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States 
shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives 
shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve 
upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice 
President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other con- 
stitutional disability of the President. The person having the greatest 
number of votes as Vice President, shall be the Vice President, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and 



560 American History 

if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the 
list, the Senate shall choose the Vice President ; a quorum for the purpose 
shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority 
of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person con- 
stitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that 
of Vice President of the United States. 

Article XIII. — Section i. Neither slavery nor involuntary servi- 
tude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been 
duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place sub- 
ject to their jurisdiction. 

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 

Article XIV. — Section i. All persons born or naturalized in the 
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 
United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make 
or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of 
citizens of the United States ; nor shall any State deprive any person of 
life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any 
person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several 
States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number 
of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the 
right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and 
Vice President of the United States, representatives in Congress, the 
executive or judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature 
thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being 
twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way 
abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of 
representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the 
number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male 
citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

Section 3. No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, 
or elector of President or Vice President, or hold any office, civil or mili- 
tary, under the United States, or under any State, who having previously 
taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United 
States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an executive or 
judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United 
States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same. 



The Constitution 561 

or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a 
vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability. 

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, 
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and 
bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be 
questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume 
or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion 
against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of 
any slave ; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal 
and void. 

Section 5. Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate 
legislation, the provisions of this article. 

Article XV. — Section 1. The rights of citizens of the United 
States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by 
any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by ap- 
propriate legislation. 

Article XVI. — The Congress shall have power to lay and collect 
taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment, 
among the several States, and without regard to any census or emmiera- 
tion. 

Article XVII. — The Senate of the United States shaU be composed 
of two senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six 
years; and each senator shall have one vote. The electors in each 
State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the nimierous 
branches of the State Legislatures. 

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the 
Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election 
to fill such vacancies : Provided, That the Legislature of any State may 
empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments untU 
the people fill the vacancies by election as the Legislature may direct. 

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term 
of any senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution. 

Article XVIII. — Section i. After one year from the ratification of 
this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating 
liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof 
from, the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction 
thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited. 



562 American History 

Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent 
power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been 
ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the 
several States, as provided by the Constitution, within seven years from 
the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress. 



PRONUNCIATION INDEX 



Aguinaldo, a ge nal'do 
Aisne, an 
Alamo, a'la mo 
Alaric, a'lar ic 
Alsace, al sas' 
Amiens, a me an' 
Andre, an dra' 
Antietam, an te'tam 
Argonne, ar gon' 
Armada, ar ma'da 
Armistice, ar'mis tis 
Azores, 3^ zorz' 

Bahamas, ba ha'maz 
Balkans, bal'kans 
Barre, bS, ra' 
Bastille, bas tel' 
Beauregard, bo re gard' 
Berkeley, berk'li 
Bolsheviki, bol shev'i ki 
Bonhomme Richard, bon 6m' ri shar' 
Buena Vista, bwa'na ves'ta 

Cairo, ki'ro 
Cartier, car ti a' 
Cerro Gordo, ther'ro gor'do 
Cervera, thar va'ra 
Charlemagne, sharl man' 
Chateau-Thierry, shat'-o te ri' 
Cherbourg, sher boor' 
Cibola, si bo'la 
Clemenceau, clem 6n's6 
Cortez, c6r'tez 

Dardanelles, dar'dan elz' 
Diego, de a'go 
Duquesne, doo kan' 



El Caney, al ka'ne 
Entente, 6n tont' 
Ericcson, er'ix on 

Foch, f6sh 

Gallipoli, gal lip'o 11 
Genet, zhe na' 
Genoa, gen'o a 
Goethals, go'thalz 
Goths, goths 
Guam, gwam 
Guerriere, gar ryar' 
Gutenberg, goo'ten berg 

Hague, hag 
Haiti, ha'ti 
Hawaii, ha wi'e 

Joffre, zhofr 
Joliet, zho'lya 
Junkers, yun'kers 

Kearsarge, ker'sarj 

La Salle, la sal' 

Leif Ericson, lef er'ix on 

Liege, le'aj 

Louvain, loo van' 

Magellan, ma jel'lan 
Manassas, ma nas'sas 
Maria, ma re'a 
Marne, marn 
Marquette, mar kef 
Mouse, muz 
Montcalm, mon kam' 
Monterey, mon te ra' 
563 



564 



Pronunciation Index 



Monticello, mon ti sel'lo 
Moultrie, mool'tri 

Newfoundland, nu'fiind land 
NihOy ne'nya 

Palos, pa'los 
Pequot, pe'kw5t 
Piave, pe a'va 
Picardy, pic'ar dy 
Pinta, pen'ta 
Przemysl, pshem'ysl 
Pueblo, pwa'blo 

Rheims, r3,ns 
Rio Grande, reo gran'da 
Rochambeau, ro'sham bo 
Roosevelt, ro'ze velt 

Sagas, sa'gaz 

San Jacinto, san ja thin'to 
San Juan, san hwan' 
Santiago, san ti a'go 
Sarajevo, sa ra ya'vo 



Schley, shli 
Serapis, ser'a pis 
Sevier, sev er' 
Seville, sev il' 
Seward, soo'ard 
Soissons, swas'son 
Somme, som 
St. Mihiel, san mi el' 
Stuyvesant, sti've sant 

Teutons, tu'tons 
Thames, temz 

Tomochichi, to mo chee'chee 
Toscanelli, tos ca nel'li 
Tripoli, trip'o li 

Vera Cruz, ve ra crooz' 
Verdun, ver doon' 
Vespucius, ves pu'shus 
Villa, ve'a 
Vincennes, vin senz' 

Ypres, epr' 
Yser, e zer' 



INDEX 



Abolition societies, 350. 
Abraham, Heights of, 144. 

Plains of, 146, 
Academies, growth of, 337. 
Acadians, expulsion of, 143. 
Adams, John, 196. 

President, 244,. 245. 
Adams, John Quincy,^ 280, 286, 319. 
Adams, Samuel, 185, 188. 
Africa, to sail round, 24. 
Aguinaldo, 437. 
Airplanes, 462. 
Aisne River, 494, 523. 
Alabama, admitted, 275. 
Alabama, the' cruise of, 378. 

sinking of, 379. 

claims for, 379. 
Alamo, the, 327. 
Alaric, 3. 

Alaska, purchase of, 416. 
Albany, site of, 88. 
Albemarle, Duke of, 102. 
Alexander, son of Massasoit, 122. 
Alien and sedition laws, 247. 
Allen, Ethan, 192. 
Alliance, the Holy, 279, 
Amendments, thirteenth, 413, 

fourteenth, 414. 

fifteenth, 418. 

eighteenth, 445. 

woman's suffrage, 446. 
America, naming of, 38. 
Anderson, Maj. Robert, 368. 
Andre, Maj. John, 215, 216. 
Andros, Sir Edmund, 126. 
Annapolis, battle near, 94. 
Anthracite coal, 289. 
Anti-Federalist party, 238. 
Appomattox Court House, 426. 
Area of United States, 456. 
Ark and Dove, 93. 



Arkansas, admitted, 326. 
Arkwright, Richard, 292. 
Arlington, Lord, 114. 
Armada, the, 57, 
Armistice, the, 528. 
Arnold, Benedict, 194, 205. 

treason of, 215. 
Arthur, Chester A., President, 424. 
Articles of Confederation, 231. 
Assembly, first Colonial, 69. 
Atlanta, campaign against, 397. 
Atlantic cable, 449. 
Automobile industry, 461. 

Bacon, Nathaniel, 114. 
Bacon's Rebellion, 115. 
Bainbridge, Captain, 252, 263. 
Balboa discovers Pacific, 39. 
Baltimore, Lord, 92. 
Baltimore, size of, 229. 

attacked, 268. 
Bancroft, George, 481. 
Bank, the United States, 316. 

pet, 317. 

regional, 442. 
Barbary States, 251. 
Barre, Col., 181. 
Battle oi Alabama and Kearsarge, 379. 

Antietam (Sharpsburg), 386. 

Atlanta, 397. 

Bennington, 205. 

Bonhomme Richard and Serapis, 209. 

Brandywine, 207. 

Buena Vista, 331. 

Bunker Hill, 191. _ 

Camden, 213. 

Cerro Gordo, 332. 

Chancellorsville, 389. 

Chateau-Thierry, 523. 

Chattanooga, around, 396. 

Chesapeake and Shannon, 263. 



56s 



566 



Index 



Battle of Chickamauga, 395. 
Chippewa, 267. 
Cold Harbor, 400. 
Constitution and Giierriere, 261. 
Cowpens, 214. 
El Caney, 435. 
Fredericksburg, 387. 
Gallipoli peninsula, 501. 
Gettysburg, 390, 391. 
Guilford Court House, 214. 
ironclads, 381. 
King's Mountain, 214. 
Lake Erie, 265. 
Lexington, 190. 
Long Island, 200. 
Lundy's Lane, 267. 
Manassas, first battle, 371. 

second battle, 386. 
Manila Bay, 433. 
Mame, first battle, 494. 

second battle, 525. 
Meuse-Argonne, 526. 
Mexico City, around, 332. 
Monitor and Virginia, 380. 
Monmouth, 211. 
Murfreesboro, 393. 
New Orleans, 270. 
Peninsula, in the, 383. 
Perry ville, 393. 
Petersburg, 400. 
Plattsburg Bay, 269. 
Princeton, 204. 
Quebec, 146. 
Richmond, around, 385. 
St. Mihiel, 526. 
San Jacinto, 328. 
San Juan, 435. 
Saratoga, 205, 
Sharpsburg, 386. 

Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing, 374. 
Somme, 505, 521. 
Spottsylvania Court House, 399. 
Tannenburg, 495. 
Thames, 266. 
Tippecanoe, 259. 



Battle of Trenton, 203. 

Wilderness, in the, 399. 

Winchester, 400, 

Yorktown, 217. 
Beauregard, General, 369. 
Belgium, invaded, 492, 494. 

devastated, 497. 
Bell, Alexander Graham, 460. 
Berkeley, Lord, 95. 
Berkeley, Sir William, 113. 
Berlin-to-Bagdad railway, 488. 
Bermuda Islands, 66. 
Bernstorff, Count von, 506. 
Biloxi, founded, 132. 
Birmingham, iron center, 475. 
Blackbeard, pirate, 165. 
Blockade established, 379. 

German ports, 496. 

war zones, 502. 
Blockhouses for protection, 119. 
Bombardment of Fort Sumter, 369. 
Bonhomme Richard, the, 209. 
Boone, Daniel, 221. 
Boonesborough, 221. 
Booth, John Wilkes, 404. 
Boston, founded, 78. 

Massacre, 185. 

Tea Party, 186. 

fire in, 421. 
Boxer, uprising, 438. 
Braddock, Gen., 140, 142. 
Bradford, Gov. William, 74, 75. 
Bragg, Gen. Braxton, 332, 393. 
Brazil, visited by Vespucius, 38. 
Breckinridge, John C, 358. 
Bridge, East River, 450. 
Brown, John, raid of, 354. • 
Bryan, W. J., candidate, 441. 
Bryant, WiUiam C, 477, 
Buchanan, James, President, 356. 
Buena Vista, battle of, 331. 
Buffalo, passing of, 470. 
Buildings, tall, 451. 
Bulgaria enters war, 501. 
Burgo)aie, surrender of, 205, 206. 



Index 



567 



Burnside, Gen. A. E., 386. 
Burr, Aaron, 256. 

Cable, Atlantic, 449. 

Cabot, John, voyage of, 36, 37. 

Calhoun, John C, 323. 

California, discovery of gold in, 346. 

applied for admission, 348, 351. 
Calvert, Cecil, 92. 
Calvert, George, 93. 
Calvert, Leonard, 93. 
Cambridge, 192. 
Camps and cantonments, 513. 
Canal, Erie, 302. 

Panama, 442, 450. 
Canada, Expedition against, 194. 
Canary Islands, 32. 
Canonicus and the arrows, 75. 

interview with Roger Williams, 1 20. 
Capital located, 241. 
Capitol burned, 268. 
Caravans, trade of, 21. 
Carolinas, settled, loi. 

divided, 104. 
Carpet-baggers, the, 418, 419. 
Carroll, Charles, of CarroUton, 198, 304. 
Carteret, Philip, 96. 
Carteret, Sir George, 95. 
Cartier, Jacques, voyage of, 55. 
Cartwright, Edward, 292. 
Carver, John, governor, 73, 74. 
Castles, 8. 
Cathedrals, 16. 
Catholics in England, 92. 
Cattle ranches, 470. 
CavaKers in Virginia, 113. 
Centennial Exposition, 422. 
Cervera, Admiral, 434. 
Champlain, Lake, 55. 
Champlain, Samuel de, 55. 
Charlemagne, 4. 
Charles I, 78, 92, 112. 
Charles II, 102, 126. 
Charleston, S. C, 103, 105, 114. 

attacked by British, 195. 



Charleston, held by British, 212. 

railroad to, 305. 

Federal fleet at, 369. 

earthquake at, 428. 
Charlestown, 78. 
Charter for Virginia, 69. 
Charter Oak, 127. 
Chateau-Thierry, 523. 
Chatham, Earl of, 180. 
Chesapeake, the, 258, 263. 
Chicago in 1830, 308. 

destroyed by fire, 420. 

growth of, 465. 

World's Fair at, 430. 
China, uprising in, 438. 
Chinese Exclusion Act, 428. 
Christina, 97. 
Church, Middle Ages, 15. 

New England, 151, 168. 
Cincinnati, 256. 
Cities, size of, 229, 334. 

customs in New York, 157, 287. 

present growth. Western, 465. 
Civil Service Reform Act, 425. 
Claiborne, a Virginian, 94. 
Clarendon, Earl of, 102. 
Clark, George Rogers, 222. 
Clark and Lewis explorations, 255. 
Clay, Henry, 278, 286. 

compromise with South Carolina, 

325. 

compromise of 1850, 352. 
Clemenceau, Georges, 510. 
Clemens, Samuel, 480. 
Clermont, the, 300. 
Cleveland, Grover, President, 425. . 

second term, 430. 
Clinton, Governor, 302. 
Clinton, Sir Henry, 211. 
Clothing of colonists, 159. 
Coal, for fuel, 289. 

fields in the South, 474. 

control of, 517. 
College, Harvard, 165. 

William and Mary, 165. 



568 



Index 



College, rise of, 291. 
Colony, the lost, 60. 
Columbia, S. C, Sherman in, 398. 
Columbus, early life of, 28-31. 

voyages of, s^SS- 

death of, 36. 
Commerce Commission, Interstate, 427. 
Company, London, 61. 

Plymouth, 61. 
Compromise, Missouri, 277. 

with South Carolina, 325. 

of 1850, 352. 
Confederate States, organized, 362. 
Confederation, Articles of, 231. 
Congress, powers of, 236. 

Pan-American, 429. 
Connecticut founded, 82, 83. 

charter saved, 126. 
Constantinople, 501. 
Constitution of United States, 234, 

Constitution, the, 261, 263. 
Continental Congress, 187, 191, 231. 
Cooper, J. Fenimore, 479, 
Cornwallis takes command, 201. 

surrenders, 217. 
Coronado, 53. 
Cortez, 51, 52. 
Cofet of the Civil War, 405. 

of the World War, 518, 519. 
Cotton, increase of, 296. 

crop, 473. _ 
Cotton gin, invention of, 295. 
Cotton mills, 474. 
Court Days, 152. 
Courts, Supreme and lower, 237. 
Crawford, William H., 286. 
Criminals in colonies, 171. 
Critical Period, 229. 
Crompton, Samuel, 292. 
Cromwell, Oliver, 112. 
Crusades, 19. 
Cuba, Columbus visits, 34. 

rebellion, 431. 

Republic, 438. 



Culpepper, Lord, 114. 
Czar, abdication of, 510. 

Dale, Sir Thomas, governor, 68. 
Danube River, 2. 
Dare, Virginia, 60. 
Darien, Isthmus of, 39. 
Davis, Jeflferson, President of the 
Confederate States, 363. 

leaves Richmond, 401. 

capture of, 405. 
Debate, Webster and Hayne, 321. 
Debtors, imprisonment of, 106. 
Decatur, Lieut. Stephen, 253, 262. 
Declaration of Independence, 197. 
Deerfield, massacre, 136. 
De Kalb, Baron, 204. 
Delaware, Lord, arrives, 67. 
Delaware, settled, 97. 
Delaware, three lower counties of, 97. 

early history of, 97. 
Delaware Indians, 99. 

treaty with Penn, 100. 
Democratic Party, rise of, 314. 
Denver, growth of, 465. 
De Soto, march of, 52. 

burial, 53. 
Detroit, surrender of, 260. 
Dewey, Commodore George, 433. 
Dinwiddie, Governor, 139. 
Discovery of land by Columbus, 34. 
Distress following Revolution, 229. 
Donelson, Fort, 374. 
Douglas, Stephen A., 354, 358. 
Draft, selective, 513. 
Drake, Sir Francis, 41. 
Dred Scott Decision, 356. 
Duquesne, French governor, 139. 

Fort, 140, 143. 
Dutch, holidays, 160. 

life of, 89. 

rise of, 85. 

settle New York, 85. 

war vessel with slaves, 73. 
Duties on foreign goods, 273. ' 



Index 



569 



Eads jetties, 475. 
Early, General, 400. 
East River Bridge, 450. 
Ebenezer, town of, 108. 
Edison, Thomas A., 458. 
Edwards, Jonathan, 168. 
Eggleston, Edward, 480. 
Electoral Commission, 423. 
Electric lights, 459. 

cars, 459. 
Eliot, John, 118. 
Elizabeth, Queen, 57. 
Elizabethtown, N. J., 96. 
Elm, Washington, 192. 
Emancipation Proclamation, 388. 
Embargo of 1807, 258. 
Emerson, R. W., 478. 
Endicott, John, 78. 
England, growth of, 57. 

declares war, 493. 

rotten boroughs in, 179. 

trouble with, 244. 
Enterprises, great American, 449, 
Era of Good Feeling, 271. 
Erie Canal, 302. 

Exposition, the Centennial, 422. 
Expositions, the Louisiana Purchase, 
472. 

New Orleans, 476. 

others, 476. 

World's Fair, 430. 
Express companies, 344. 

Factory system in England, 292. 

in America, 296. 
Farms, Western, 468. 
Farragut, Admiral, at New Orleans, 

375- 
at Mobile Bay, 401. 
Federal Reserve Act, 442. 
Federalist party, 238. 
Ferdinand and Isabella, 31. 
Field, Cyrus W., 449. 
Field, Eugene, 479. 
Fillmore, Millard, President, 348. 



Flanders, 523. 
Florida, naming of, 51. 

purchase of, 277. 

admitted, 329. 
Foch, Ferdinand, 522, 526, 
Food, conservation of, 516. 
Force Bill, the, 325. 
Ford, Henry, 462. 
Forest area of the South, 475. 
Forrest, Gen. Nathan B., 394. 
"Forty-niners," the, 346, 
Fountain of Youth, search for, 50. 
France, trouble with, 244. 
Franklin, Benjamin, 182, 183, 198, 

207, 
Freedmen's Bureau, 418. 
French and Indian War, 138. 
French, explore the Mississippi, 128. 

in America, 132. 

posts, 133. 

quarrel with English, 135. 

Revolution, 241. 
Frolic, the, 262. 
Frontenac, Count, 135. 
Fuel conservation, 517. 
Fugitive Slave Law, 351. 
Fulton, Robert, 299. 
Fulton's Folly, 300. 
Fur trade, 134. 

Gadsden Purchase, the, 333. 
Gage, General Thomas, 187. 
Garfield, James A., J^resident, 424. 

assassinated, 424. 
Garrison, William Lloyd, 350. 
Gas, for lighting, 290. 

natural, 485. 

poison, 500. 
Gates, Sir Thomas, 66. 
Gates, General, 205, 214. 
Genet, citizen, 242. 
George, David Lloyd, 509. 
George II, King, 107. 
George III, 176, 178. 
1 Georgia, settled, 99, 106. 



570 



Index 



Georgia Female College, 337. 
Germany, prosperity of, 485. 

military system of, 487. 

needs and purposes of, 487, 488. 

sues for peace, 528. 
Goethals, Col. G. W., 452. 
Goffe, Colonel, 124. 
Gold in California, 346. 
Goldsboro, N. C, 398. 
Goliad, Fort, 327. 
Goodyear, Charles, 342. 
Gordon, John B., 401. 
Goths, 3. 

Government, Colonial, 149. 
Grady, H. W., on the negro, 388 (note). 
Grand Model, 103. 
Grant, Gen. U. S., 393, 396. 

in Virginia, 399. 

at surrender, 402. 

made President, 420. 
Great Eastern, ship, 449. 
Greene, Gen. Nathanael, 214. 
Greenland, settlement of, 5. 
Guam, ceded to United States, 436. 
Guerriere, the, 261. 
Gutenberg, John, 23. 

Hadley, town of, 124. 
Hague, Conferences, 489. 

Tribunal, 438. 
Haiti, 34, 35- 

Hale, Captain Nathan, 200. 
Half Moon, vessel, ,85. 
Hamburg, S. C, 305. 
Hamilton, Alexander, 239, 240. 

killed in duel, 256. 
Hamilton, Governor, at Vincennes, 

225. 
Hampton Roads, 380. 
Hancock, John, 188, 191, 198. 
Hard Cider Campaign, 327. 
Hargreaves, James, 292. 
Harnden, 343- 
Harris, Joel C, 481. 
Harrison, Benjamin, President, 429. 



Harrison, Gen. W. H., 259. 

President, 327. 
Harte, Bret, 480. 
Hartford, settled, 82. 

Convention, 270. 
Harvard College, founded, 165. 
Harvesting machine, 339. 
Hawaii, annexed, 436. 
Hawaiian Islands, 436. 
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 480. 
Hayes, R. B., President, 423. 
Hayne, Paul H., 479. 
Hayne, Robert Y., 321. 
Henry, Fort, 373. 
Henry, Patrick, speech of, 181. 

interview with Clark, 224. 
Henry, Prince, of Portugal, 25. 
Hessians, hired, 196. 

captured, 205. 
Highlanders in Georgia, 108. 
Hill, Benjamin H., speech, 415 (note). 
Hindenburg, General von, 495. 
Hobson, Lieut., exploit of, 434. 
Hoe, Richard M., 343. 
Holmes, Oliver W., 478. 
Holy Alliance, 279. 
Homes of the colonists, 153. 
Homestead Act, 466. 
Hood, Gen. J. B., 397. 
Hooker, Gen. Joseph, 387. 
Hooker, Thomas, 82. 
Houston, Sam, 328. 
Howe, Elias, inventor, 342. 
Howe, Gen., 194, 199, 207. 
Hudson, Henry, 85, 86. 
Huguenots, 105. 
Hull, Gen. William, 260. 
Hutchinson, Mrs. Anne, 81. 

Illinois, admitted, 275. 
Immigration, 286, 334. 
Impressing seamen, 257. 
India, trade with, 21. 
Indiana, admitted, 275. 
Indians, named by Columbus, 34. 



Index 



571 



Indians, origin, 41. 

appearance, clothing, etc., 42. 

tribes, 43. 

skill in woodcraft, 43. 

warfare, 45. 

religion, treaties, 46, 47. 

what they taught the white men, 
117. 

wars in New England, 116. 

removal from Georgia, 319. 

in the West, 467. 
Industries, 158. 
Industries taken over, 514. 
Insurrection of slaves, 173. 
Internal improvements, 272. 
Inter-State Commerce Commission, 

427. 
Inventions, great American, 457. 
Iowa admitted, 348. 
Iron industry of South, 475. 
Iroquois War, 56. 
Irving, Washington, 477. 
Italy enters the War, 504. 

Jackson, Andrew, at Horseshoe Bend, 
267, 

at New Orleans, 270. 

candidate for President, 286, 314. 

elected President, 314. 

spoils system, 316. 

bank policy, 316. 

nullification policy, 323. 
Jackson, Gen. Stonewall, 371. 

Valley campaign, 383. 

death of, 390. 
James I, 71. 
James II, 91, 126. 
James River, named, 62. * 
Jamestown, settled, 62. 

affairs in, 63. 

burning of, 116. 
Japan enters the War, 494. 
Jasper, Sergeant, 195. 
Java^ the, 263. 
Jay, John, treaty of, 245. 



Jefferson, Thomas, 197. 

leader of parties, 239. 

becomes President, 248. 

life and character, 250, 251. 

views on slavery, 279. 

views on Monroe Doctrine, 281. 
Jersey, Edst, 96. 

West, 96. 
Jews in Georgia, 108. 
Joffre, Gen., 194. 
Johnson, Andrew, President, 412. 

antagonizes Congress, 416 

impeachment of, 416. 
Johnston, Gen. A. S., 374. 
Johnston, Gen. Joseph E., 371. 

in the peninsula, 382. 

opposes Sherman, 396. 
Joliet, explorer, 129. 
Jones, John Paul, 208-210. 

Kansas, struggle for, 355, 356. 
Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 354. 
Kansas City, growth of, 465. 
Kaskaskia, capture of, 223. 
Kearsarge, the, 379. 
Kent Island, 94. 
Kentucky, 221. 

resolutions, 247. 

admitted, 256. 
Key, Francis S., 296. 
Kidd, Capt. William, pirate, 164. 
King George's War, 138. 
King Philip's War, 122. . 
King William's War, 136. 
Knights in Middle Ages, 8, 9. 
Know-Nothings, 354. 
Ku-Klux Klan, 417. ^ 

Labrador, Norsemen in, 6. 
Lafayette, Marquis de, 204. 

visits America, 282. 
Landing of the Pilgrims, 73. 
Lanier, Sidney, 479. 
La Salle, voyage of, 130. 
Lawrence, Captain, 263. 



572 



Index 



Lawson, John, 104. 
Lee, Gen. Charles, 201, 202, 211. 
Lee, Gen. FitzHugh, 432. 
Lee, Richard Henry, 196. 
Lee, Gen. Robert E., succeeds Johns- 
ton, 385. 

in Virginia, 398. 

surrender, 402. 
Legislative department of U. S., 

235- 
Leif, the Norseman, 5. 
Leopard, the, 258. 
Lewis and Clark expedition, 255. 
Liberator, the, 350. 
Liberty, Statue of, 427. 
Libraries, great, 482. 
Lincoln, Abraham, President, 358. 

inaugural address, 367. 

assassinated, 404. 

plans for reconstruction, 412. 
Lincoln, Gen., 218. 
Locke, John, 103. 
Locomotive, the, 305. 
Long, Dr. Crawford W., 342, 343. 
Longfellow, H. W., 472. 
Louis XVI, 207, 242. 
Louisiana, named, 131. 

purchased, 254. 

admitted, 275. 
Louisburg, 143. 
Lou vain, 497. 

Lowell, James Russell, 478. 
Lusitania, sinking of, 503. 
Luxemburg invaded, 492. 

McClellan, Gen. George B., 381. 

McCormick, Cyrus A., 336, 339. 

McDowell, Gen. Irvin, 371. 

McHenry, Fort, 268. 

McKinley Bill, 429. 

McKinley, William, President, 431. 

reelected, 439. 

assassinated, 439. 
Macedonian, the, 262. 
Machinery, farming, 469. 



MacMonnies, sculptor, 482. 
Madison, James, President, 259. 
Magellan, Ferdinand, 40. 
Maine, the, 431. 
Maine admitted, 279. 
Manhattan Island, 87. 
Mann, Horace, 336. 
Mansions, Virginia, 155. 
Manufactures,, 176, 297, 335. 
Manuscripts, 19. 
March to the Sea, 397. 
Marconi, inventor, 461. 
Marco Polo, traveler, 22. 
Marion, Francis, 213. 
Marquette, Father, 129. 
Maryland, founded, 92. 

Lee invades, 387. 
Mason and Dixon's Line, loi. 
Mason and Slidell, 377. 
Massachusetts, Circular of, 183. 
Massachusetts Bay Company, 78. 
Massacre, at Jamestown, 70. 

Schenectady, 135. 
Massacre, Boston, 185. 

Fort Mims, 267. 
Massasoit, Indian, 75, 77, 122. 
Mayflower, the, 72. 
Meade, Gen. George B., 390. 
Mecklenburg Declaration, 190. 
Merrimac, the, 434. 
Mexico, conquest of, 52. 

war with, 331-333) 444- 
Michigan admitted, 326. 
Middle Ages, 4. 
Miller, Joaquin, 478. ' 
Mims, Fort, massacre, 267. 
Minuit, Peter, 97. 
Mississippi, admitted, 275. 
Mississippi River, discovery of, 53. 

explored by French, 129. 

life along, 309. 
Missouri Compromise, 274. 

repealed, 355. 
Missouri River explored, 255. 
Mohegan Indians, 121. 



Index 



573 



Money, Continental, 229. 

Confederate, 406. 
Monitor and Virginia, 380, 
Monks, the, 17. 

Monroe, James, President, 271. 
Monroe Doctrine, 281. 
Montcalm, Marquis de, 144-146. 
Montgomery, Ala., 362. 
Montgomery, Gen., 194. 
Monticello, 250. 
Mormons in Utah, 344. 
Morris, Robert, 203. • 
Morse, S. F. B., 340. 
Morton, Dr., 343. 
Motley, John, 480. 
Moultrie, Fort, 195, 319. 
Mt. Vernon, 243, 244.' 
Mystic River, 121. 

Napoleon Bonaparte, makes peace, 
247.^ . 

sells Louisiana, 254. 

forbids American trade, 257. 

promises protection, 259. 
Navigation Acts, 114, 176. 
Necessity, Fort, 140. 
Negroes, sold in Jamestown, 70. 

during Civil War, 388, 407. 

after the war, 417. 

legislature of, 419. 

education of, 476. 
Netherlands, 85. 
New Amsterdam, named, 87. 

name changed, 91. 
New England, coasts explored, 71. 

Pilgrims settle in, 71. 

Indian wars in, 116. 

homes of people, 150. 

industries in, 158. 

townships, 151. 

secession threats, 364. 
New France, named, S3- 
New Jersey, settled, 95. 

retreat across, 201. 
New Netherlands, named, 88. 



New Orleans, founded, 13^. 

appearance of, 17 19, 131. 

purchased from French, 254. 

captured by Farragut, 376. 

great cotton port, 475. 

Eads jetties at, 475. 
Newport, settled, 82. 
Newspapers, early, 291, 338. 
New York, Hudson's voyage, 86. 

English take possession, 90. 

name given, 91. 

British enter, 200. 

Washington watching, 206. 
Nicaragua, canal route, 450. 
Nobles, life of, 7. 
Non-Intercourse Act, 258. 
Norsemen, coming of, 5. 
North, Lord, 179, 206. 
North Carolina, settled, 102, 104. 

life of people, 104. 
Northwest Territory, saved for Union, 
222. 

a common property, 233. 

organized and ordinance of, 233. 
Nullification in South Carolina, 323. 

ordinance of, 324. 

Oberlin College, 337. 

Oglethorpe, James Edward, 106, 107. 

last days of, no, 
Ohio, admitted, 275. 
Ohio Company formed, 138. 
Ohio River, 306. 
Oil wells, 450. 

production in South, 474. 
Oklahoma, opening of, 468. 
Old Ironsides, 262. 
Old South Meeting House, 169. 
Omnibus Bill, 352. 
Orange, Fort, 86. 
Ordinance, of 1787, 233. 

of Nullification, 324. 

of Secession, South Carolina, 362. 
Oregon, voyage of, 434. 
Oregon Territory, 310, 329, 330. 



574 



Index 



Oregon Trail, 311. 
Osceola, Indian, 318. 
Otis, James, speech of, 1 78. 

Pacific Ocean, discovery of, 40. 

voyage of Magellan over, 40. 
Pacific railroads, 465. 
Page, Thomas Nelson, 481. 
Palos, Spain, 31. 
Panama Canal, 450. 
Pan-American Congress, 429. 
Panic, of 1837, 317. 

of 1873, 421. 
Paris, treaty of, 219. 
Parkman, Francis, 481. 
Patent Office, 458. 
Pawtucket, 294. 
Peabody, George, 477. 
Peace Conference, of 186 1, 368. 

at Paris, 529. 
Peary, Lieut., 455 
Peasants, life of, 11. 
Pemberton, Gen., 394. 
Peninsular Campaign, 382-385. 
Penn, William, purchases Jersey, 96. 

acquires Delaware, 97. 

acquires Pennsylvania, 99. 
Pennsylvania, named, 99. 

settled, 99. 

Lee invades, 390. 

strikes in, 440. 
People's Party, 429. 
Pequot Indians, 121, 122. 
Perry, Oliver H., 265. 
Pershing, Gen. J. J., 520. 
Pet banks, 317. 
Philadelphia, the, 253. 
Philadelphia, founded, 100. 

captured by British, 207. 

size of, 149. 

customs of, 287. 
Philip, King, 122, 124. 
Philippine Islands, Magellan at, 41. 

ceded to United States, 435. 

description of, 436. 



Philippine Islands, war in, 437. 

government of, 437. 
Pickett's charge, 391. 
Pierce, Franklin, President, 355. 
Pilgrims in Holland, 72. 

landing of, 73. 
Pillory and stocks, 161. 
Pinckney, Charles C, 246. 
Pirates, of Atlantic, 164. 

of Barbary States, 251. 
Pitcairn, Major, 189. 
Pitt, Fort, 143. 
Pitt, William, 144, 180. 
Pittsburgh, 143, 296. 
Plymouth, founded, 73. 
Plymouth Company, 61. 
Pocahontas, saves John Smith, 64. 

marries John Rolfe, 65. 

death of, 65. 
Poe, Edgar Allan, 478. 
Pole, North, 455. 
Political parties, first, 238. 

Democratic, 314. 

Whig, 314. 

Free Soil, 354. 

American, 354. 

Republican, 356. 
Polk, James K., President, 329. 
Ponce de Leon, 50. 
Pony express, 465. 
Pope, the, 17. 
Pope, Gen. John, 386. 
Population, growth of, 455. 

center of, 456. 
Porto Rico, ceded to United States, 
436. 

description of, 436. 
Portsmouth, settled, 82. 

treaty of, 440. 
Postage, 289, 338, 425. 
Post offices, 288. 
Potato, cultivation of, 59. 
Powers, Hiram, 482. 
Powhatan, Indian Chief, 64. 

country of, 66. 



Index 



S7S 



Prescott, William H., 481. 
President of the United States, 236. 
Presidential succession, 426 
Princeton, victory at, 204. 
Printing, invention of, 23. 

press, 167. 
Prisoners, exchange of, 408. 
Privateers, War of 1812, 265, 
Productions of the United States, 457, 
Prohibition, movement, 338. 

National, 445. 
Protective tariff, 274. 
Providence, 81, 297. 
Public schools, 166, 336. 
Puritans in England, 72. 

life in America, 78, 79, 
Putnam, Gen. Israel, 191. 

Quakers, customs of, 98. 
Quarrels, French and English, 135. 
Quebec, founded, 55. 

military post, 135. 

fall of, 144-146. 
Queen Anne's War, 137. 
Queen Elizabeth, 57, 58. 

Raid, John Brown's, 357. 
Railroads, beginning of, 304, 305. 

Pacific, 465. 

taken over, 518. 
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 58. 
Randall, James R., 479. 
Reciprocity Agreement, 429. 
Reconstruction, plans for, 414. 
Religious liberty in Virginia, 248. 
Removal of deposits, 317. 
Reservation, Indians on, 468. 
Revere, Paul, 188. 
Revolution, American, 176. 

French, 241. 

industrial, 292. 
Rhine River, 2. 
Rhode Island, settled, 82. 
Rice introduced, 106. 
Richmond, Va., capital, 370. 



Richmond, on to, 371. 

McClellan near, 385. 

evacuated, 402. 
Riley, James W., 479. 
Road, National, 303, 
Roanoke, colony of, 59. 
Rolfe, John, marriage of, 65. 
Roman Empire, i, 3. 
Rome, downfall of, 3, 
Roosevelt, Theodore, 439. 
Rosecrans, General, 393. 
Roumania enters the war, 508. 
Rubber, vulcanized, 342. 
Russia, war declared on, 492. 

conditions in, 510. 
Russian demands of territory, 280. 
Ryan, Father, 479. 

Sagas, Norse, 6. 

St, Augustine, founded, 53. 

attacked by Oglethorpe, 109. 
Saint Gaudens, 482. 
St. Louis, 254, 310. 
St. Mary's founded, 93. 
St. Mihiel, salient reduced, 526. 
Salem, founded, 78. 

witchcraft, in 163. 
Salzburghers, the, 108. 
Samoan Islands, possessions in, 436. 
Samoset, 74. 
Sampson, Captain, 433. 
San Francisco, beginning of, 347. 

earthquake in, 465. 
San Salvador, island of, 34. 
Santa Anna, General, 327, 332. 
Santa Fe, founded, 53. 

Trail, 310. 
Santiago de Cuba, blockaded, 434. 

surrendered, 435. 
Sarajevo, 491. 

Savannah, the, crosses ocean, 301. 
Savannah, founded, 107. 

captured by Sherman, 397. 
Schenectady, massacre at, 135. 
Schley, Commodore, 433. 



576 



Index 



Schools, free, 290, 336. 

high, 290. 
Scott, Gen. Winfield, 332, 333. 
Secession, doctrine of, 364. 
Sedition laws, 247. 
Seminole Indians, 318. 
Semmes, Raphael, 378. 
Serapis, the, 209. 
Serbia, ultimatum to, 491. 

devastated, 501, 502. 
Seven Cities of Cibola, 53. 
Sevier, John, 214. 
Seward, William H., 352. 
Sewing machine, 342. 
Shannon, the, 263. 
Shays's Rebellion, 232. 
Sheridan, General, 400. 
Sherman, Gen. W. T., 396, 397. 
Sims, William Gilmore, 480. 
Slater, John F., 473. 
Slater, Samuel, 293. 
Slaveholding, disputes of, 277, 348. 
Slavery, introduced, 277, 348. 

in colonies, 170, 172. 

in Northwest Territory, 233. 

effect of cotton gin on, 296. 

question of, 348. 

disputes over, in territories, 348. 

Lincoln's attitude, 388. 
Slave trade, 351. 
Smith, Capt. John, 63, 
Smuggling, 177. 
South, industries in, 158, 335. 

in 1862, 365. 

condition after the war, 417. 

troops withdrawn from, 423. 

growth of, 472. 

industries of, 473. 

education in, 476. 
South Carolina, founded, 104, 

nullification in, 323. ^ 

secession of, 362. --^ 

negro legislature, ^19. 
Southern states, secj^e^6g3 Q) o 

reconstruction of, 415. ^ 



Spain, in the New World, 50. 

trouble with colonies, 279. 

war with, 431. 

treaty with, 435. 
Spaniards, in Florida, 50. 

invade Georgia, 109. 
Specie payment resumed, 422. 
"Spoils System," the, 316. 
Squanto, Indian, 74. 
Squatter sovereignty, 354. 
Stage coach, travel by, 162. 
Stamp Act, 180. 
Standard time adopted, 425. 
Standish, Capt. Miles, 76. 
Star-Spangled Banner, song, 269. 
Stark, John, 205. 
Starving Time, the, 65. 
States' Rights Doctrine, 250. 
Statue of Liberty, 427. 
Steamboat invented, 300. 
Steel and iron construction, 451. 
Stephens, Alexander H., 362. 
Steuben, Baron, 204. 
Stocks and pillory, 161. 
Stowe, Mrs. H. B., 353. 
Strikes, railroads, 424. 

miners', 440. 
Stuart, Gen. J. E. B., 385. 
Stuart, Gilbert, 481. 
Stuyvesant, Peter, 88, 90, 91. 
Submarine, activity, 502. 

unrestricted warfare, 506. 

combating the, 511. 
Suffering in Civil War, 405. 
Sumter, Fort, bombarded, 369. 
Sumter, Gen. Thomas, 213. 
Sunday in the colonies, 170. 
Surgery, painless, .343. 
Surrender, of Cornwallis, 217. 

of Lee, 404. 
Sutter, Captain, 345. 
Swansea, attacked, 123. 

Taft, William H., President, 441. 
Tanks, British, 505. 



Index 



sn 



Tariff, disputes over, 273, 319, 320, 

323- 

revision of, 428. 

McKinley Bill, 429. 
Taxation without representation, 178. 
Taxes in colonies, 177. 
Tax on tea, 179, 183. 
Taylor, Gen. Zachary, 332. 

President, 348. 
Tea party at Boston, 186. 
Tecumseh, Indian, 259. 

at Thames battle, 266. 
Telegraph, electric, 340. 

wireless, 462. 
Telephone, invention of, 460. 
Temperance Movement, 337. 
Tennessee, admitted, 256. 
Teutons, the ancient, i. 
Texas, revolts, 327. 

admitted, 329. 
Thanksgiving, the first, 77. 
Thomas, General, 395. 
Ticonderoga, Fort, 192, 
Tilden, Samuel J., 442. 
Timrod, Henry, 479. 
Tobacco, Raleigh's use of, 59. 

planting, 67. 
Tomochichi, Indian chief, 108. 
Toscanelli, chart of, 32, 33. 
Townships, 151. 
Transports, 516. 
Travel, discomforts, 162. 

stage coaches, 288. 
Treaty, Penn's, 99. 

Oglethorpe's, 108. 

with French, 146. 

of Paris, 219. 

of Ghent, 270. 

-with Mexico, 333. 

with Spain, 435. 

of Portsmouth, 440. 

with Panama, 454. 

at Versailles, 529, 530. 
Trench warfare, 498. 
Trent Affair, the, 378. 



Trinidad, island of, 35. 

Triple Alliance, 489. 

Triple Entente, 489. 

Troup, Governor of Georgia, 319. 

Tulane, Paul, founds university, 477. 

Turkey enters the War, 496. 

Tuscaroras, Indians, 104. 

Tyler, John, President, 327. 

Uncle Sam, origin of, 271. 
"Uncle Tom's Cabin," 353. 
Underground railway, 353. 
United States, the, 262. 
University, of Virginia, 249. 
Vanderbilt, 477. 

Valladolid, Spain, 36.^ 
Valley Forge, sufferings at, 208. 
Van Buren, Martin, President, 326. 
Venice, 14, 15. 
Verdun, attack on, 504. 
Vermont, admitted, 256. 
Verrazano, voyage of, 54. 
Vespucius, Americus, 37, 38. 
Vessels of Columbus, 31. 
Vicksburg, 375. 
Vincennes, capture of, 225. 
Vinland, naming of, 5. 
Virginia, named, 59. 

settled, 62. 

progress of, 112. 

life in, 152. 

mansion, 155. 

Mother of Presidents, 272. 
Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, 

247. 
Virginia and Monitor, 380. 
Voyages, of Columbus, 31. 

of Magellan, 40. 

of Marquette and Joliet, 128, 129. 

of La Salle, 130, 131. 

of Savannah, 301. 

of Oregon, 434. 

Wadsworth, Captain, 127. 
Wake Island, 436. 



578 



Index 



Waltham, Mass., 296. 
War, Pequot, 121. 

King Philip's, 122. 

King William's, 136. 

Queen Anne's, 139. 

King George's, 138. 

French and Indian, 138-140, 

Seven Years', 144. 

Revolution, 176-227. 

with France, 244. 

with Tripoli, 252, 

of 1812, 260-271. 

with Mexico, 331-333. 

Kansas, 355. 

Civil War, 362-411. 

with Spain, 431-435. 

Russia- Japan, 440. 

Franco-Prussian, 530. 

World, 485-530- 
Washington, George, 139. 

bravery of, 141. 

commander-in-chief, 191. 

crosses the Delaware, 202, 

at Valley Forge, 208. 

at Yorktown, 218. 

picture of, 230. 

becomes President, 239. 

death of, 244. 
Washington (City), becomes capital, 
241, 247. 

captured by British, 268. 

retreat to, 372. 
Wasp, the, 262. 

Wealth of the United States, 456. 
Webster, Daniel, remarks on Hamilton, 
240. 

Whig leader, 314. 

reply to Hayne, 322. 

death of, 353. 
Wells, Dr., 343. 
Wesley, John and Charles, 109. 
West, Benjamin, 481, 
West, growth of, 465. 



West, industries of, 468. 
West Point, betrayal of, 215. 
Westward movement, 305. 
Weyler, Spanish general, 431. 
Wheeler, Gen. Joseph, 432. 
WTiisky Ring, frauds of, 421. 
White House, the, 237. 
WTiite, John, Governor, 60. 
Whitman, Marcus, 311. 
Whitman, Walt, 479. 
Whitney, Eli, 294. 
\Miittier, John G., 478. 
William Henry, Fort, 142. 
Wilham and Mary College, 165. 
Williams, Roger, 79, 81. 

pacifies Canonicus, 120. 
Williamsburg, capital, 116. 
Wilmot, David, 333. 
Wilson, Woodrow, President, 441. 

addresses Congress, 506. 

war message, 507. 

fourteen points, 519. 

at Peace Conference, 529. 
Winthrop, Gov. John, 78, 79. 
Wisconsin admitted, 348. 
Witchcraft, Salem, 168. 
Wives for the colonists, 68, 
Wolfe, Gen. James, 150-152. 
Women, education of, 337. 

in Civil War, 407. 

suffrage, 445, 446. 
Woolworth Building, 451, 452. 
World's Fair at Chicago, 430. 
Wright, Orville and Wilbur, 463. 
Writs of Assistance, 178. 

X. Y. Z. Affair, 246. 

York, Duke of, 90. 

Sergeant, exploit of, 527. 
Yorktown, surrender at, 217. 

Zimmermann Note, 507. 



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